


Jerk in Sheep’s Clothing

by BroadwayCutie16



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fanart Welcome, Hurt Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Jealous Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Karma Fic, Ladybug episode didn’t happen, Marinette Gets A Jerky Love Interest Of Her Own, Post-Episode: s03 Caméléon | Chameleon, Protective Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Reverse Crush (Miraculous Ladybug)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2020-10-21 14:35:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 34,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20695151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BroadwayCutie16/pseuds/BroadwayCutie16
Summary: They say karma always comes back to bite you in the end.  Madame Bustier's class learns this the hard way after Lila Rossi's lies are exposed and a bigger, badder bully takes her place.Henri LeRoi is the handsome new guy.  His first day at Francois Dupont, he sets his sights on the beautiful, endearing and mysterious Marinette Dupain-Cheng.  Which would be okay-if he wasn't a reverse Lila.  He torments the rest of the class ruthlessly behind her back, and if anyone tries to tell Marinette the truth, he makes it look like they're the ones bullying him.  Marinette is so convinced by Henri's gentlemen act and blinded by lingering feelings of resentment of the past that she believes everything he says and disregards her friends' claims completely.Adrien knows he made a mistake when he chose not to help expose Lila.  He's determined to not make that same mistake twice when Henri starts manipulating Marinette into turning on her friends.  The question is, how does he do that without Henri turning the situation on him and the class and making them look like bullies like he always does?  And why does Adrien feel jealous of Henri whenever Marinette flirts with him?





	1. Prologue

Marinette's feet felt as heavy as stone as she trudged up the sidewalk towards the school. A month ago, her feet felt light and airy whenever she started walking to her first class. She used to look forward to girl talk with Alya and the others, mooning over Adrien, and what other wonderful surprises the day had in store for her. But ever since Lila had returned to school and gotten the class under her spell, Marinette never knew whether she would spin another tale and make everyone mad at Mari.

It was taking all of Marinette's strength to keep things as calm and neutral between her and her friends as possible. She had been trying desperately to relieve some of the tension with only some success. But no matter how tense things were between them, they were still her friends.

Besides, Marinette could not blame them entirely for believing Lila's wild tales. As much as she hated to admit it, the Rossi girl had had a valid point—people believe what they wanted to believe. After all, Marinette had only seen through her lies because of her most infamous fibs of being besties with Ladybug—who was secretly Marinette. If Lila had not unknowingly lied about Mari, would the pigtailed girl have been onto her in the first place?

At first, she had been upset at Adrien for not helping her expose Lila. But soon, she remembered Gabriel, and how he had raised his son to obey without protest, to always been seen and not heard. Marinette could not blame Adrien for following his upbringing, no matter how abusive it was. Victims of those things applied that knowledge to everyone they came in contact with.

As such, Marinette knew that all she could do was hold on and hope, hope, hope with all her heart that sooner or later, the class would see through Lila's ridiculous stories. Because that's what friends did, even if things had been rather one-sided lately. She believed in them. Amd nothing could deter her from that belief.

In her deep trance of thoughts and fears of what drama the day might bring, Marinette did not notice a rock in her path, not until it was too late. The next thing she knew, she was jerked from her train of thought and went stumbling forward. She shut her eyes tight, preparing to feel the hard slap of concrete against her face. But it never came.

It was only moments later that she felt two strong hands on her arms, holding her up. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see a handsome face. The features were chiseled, coated in smooth, tan skin. The eyes were a rich cocoa brown, matching the color of his smooth, shiny hair, slicked back into a feathered style. The half-smile he wore on his face, showing his pearly white teeth, would make any girl swoon.

After a moment, he spoke, his voice deep and charming. "I know we just just met, but no need to fall for me."

Marinette laughed, half at the joke and half at their awkward meeting, as she pulled herself to an upright standing position. "Sorry about that.", she said, tucking some stray hairs behind her ear nervously.

The boy waved it off. "No problem. I'm flattered. Its not everyday that I literally bump into a pretty girl."

That made Marinette's face turn red as her Ladybug costume. They had only just met less than a minute ago, and he had already made a pass at her, and called her pretty. And she thought Chat Noir was forward.

The boy thrust his hand out towards her. "Henri LeRoi."

She smiled and shook his hand. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

His brown eyes grew wide. "Marinette...lovely name. Just rolls off the tongue."

He said it again, slower and softer this time. "Marinette...its beautiful. But hey...I can't expect less from a beautiful girl."

Now her awkwardness factor had been pumped up to eleven. She looked away, fiddling with her pigtails. She had just been promoted from pretty to beautiful in a matter of seconds. This boy definitely knew how to make a girl blush, as proven by the dark crimson color the skin on her face had taken on.

"So...I better get to Francois Dupont..."

Henri smile brightened. "What a coincidence! I'm starting there today!"

She looked back, matching his grin. "Really? That's great! That means we'll be seeing more of each other!"

"Might I be so bold as to escort you onto the premises?", he asked, in a teasing tone.

Marinette giggled at his hoity play accent and replied, "T'would be my honor, Mousier LeRoi."

And with that, they linked arms and went marching into the school. Marinette's heart suddenly felt much lighter than it had in weeks.  
\---------------  
Lila Rossi finished gathering her things from her locker when she noticed Marinette enter the room. Lila always had a sixth sense for when her foe walked in. But the thing that really caught her attention was that the rival was on the arm of a really good-looking dude. He was tall and muscular and dressed fashionably, and he and Marinette were laughing, like they had known each other forever.

"Seriously? You're in Madame Bustier's class, too?"

"It'll be so great to have you there! I'll save you a seat, kay?"

The new boy smiled at her charmingly. "Kay. See ya in class, cutie."

And he winked and shot her finger guns. Imagine Lila's surprise when Marinette giggled as she skipped off to class. Oh, no. She wasn't going to let Marinette have that boy as a friend or anything else. She didn't get that. Time for another play of the victim card.

Once she was certain Marinette was gone, she snuck up next to the boy and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around, and Lila put on her best pitiful face.

"Hey...I saw you talking to Marinette. I know she might seem nice, but there's something you should know about her..."

To her surprise, Henri didn't let her get another word in. "Save it. I know about you, Lila. Marinette told me all about you. How you're lying to everyone, trying to turn them all against her."

Lila fumed. The class had listened to her stories. Why wasn't this boy?

"Whatever she's said about me, its not true! She's the one bullying me! She hates me for no good reason! She's just jealous that I've done all these awesome things, meeting princes and rockstars and seeing the world for the past year, and she's just a dumb baker girl!"

Henri raised his eyebrows. "Really? You traveled the world? Because last I checked, your mom hasn’t left Paris in a year."

Lila's face paled. How had he known that? "How...How did you..."

"I looked you up on social media when Marinette mentioned you.", he said, stroking his chiseled chin with a devious smirk. "Didn't find any profiles matching you, but I did find your mom’s official webpage on the site for the embassy she works at. I know its her because she mentioned you were her daughter and posted the occasional childhood photograph of you on the family tab. But the embassy rules on the website clearly state that the members aren’t allowed to take their kids with them on foreign missions. I wonder...if she didn’t take you, where have you really been all that time? Maybe I should go to the address on her profile and ask her. Tell to check in with the school, just to be safe..."

Never, in all her weeks of careful planning and manipulations, had Lila been so terrified. This new boy saw through her ruse. What's more, he held the keys to her demise. This was something that she had been dreading since she returned to school, yet had hoped and prayed would never happen. Her whole world was threatening to crumble right before her very eyes.

But before she lie her way out of her situation, or at the very least, get on her knees and beg him not to follow through on his threats, promising him anything under the sun if he only kept her secrets, the new boy surprised her by simply saying, "But instead, I'll make you a little bargain."

Lila blinked twice, confused with this sudden and unexpected turn of events. "Pardon?"

The new guy folded his arms over his chest, leaning in towards her, speaking softly so their conversation would not be overheard by unwelcome. "Here's the deal...you keep playing that little game of yours, and I'll keep my mouth shut. What's more, I'll steer her clear of her friends...especially that Adrien guy."

Lila blinked again. A minute ago, this guy had been threatening to expose her to the world. Now, not only was he promising to keep silent for her, he was offering to keep Marinette away from her friends, leaving them all to herself. Lila's one eyebrow and suspicions rose. "What's the catch?"

”No catch.", he said. "Just keep doing what you're doing. This way, you can have your crowd of admirers without any interference...and I get Marinette all to myself. Everybody wins."

It all clicked in Lila's mind. So that was his angle. He figured that if all of Marinette's friends were against her, he would have no problems keeping her all to himself, like a dragon hoarding treasure. Of course, when someone offers to not only keep your darkest secrets, but also help you carry on your charade of being special, you don't pass it up. A part of Lila was disappointed that she had failed to turn the boy against Marinette, but she figured it was a worthy sacrifice if it meant no more pigtail girl trying to expose her.

So, she smiled wickedly and said, "Deal." And they shook on it before parting ways.  
\----------------  
Adrien walked into the classroom, double-checking that all of his school supplies were in order, when he looked up and saw Lila sitting in Nino's seat. Nino and Alya followed in after, seeing what their friend saw.

"Oh, is your tinnitus acting up again?", asked Alya. 

Lila nodded. "Sadly, yes. But don't worry about Marinette. She'll be just fine." She jerked her thumb behind her, and all three looked towards the back row.

There was Marinette, sitting there, only she did not see any of them. She was too engrossed in a conversation with a boy that they did not recognize, with dark hair and dark eyes and a smile on his face.

"His name's Henri. He just transferred here.", explained Lila. She eyed Adrien with a mean smile. "They look pretty cozy, don't they?"

Nino shrugged. "Well, long as she's got company, I guess it'd be okay for me to sit in her seat."

He and Alya went to sit in the second row without any protest, but Adrien stayed behind, staring at the sight before him. He wasn't sure why, but his inner alarm bells were ringing when he looked at the new guy. There was something about him that sent his Chat Noir super senses tingling.

Marinette looked into her backpack for something, and that's when Henri noticed Adrien's stare on them. Their eyes met across the room, and that's when it happened. Henri's brown eyes narrowed, and he sent a nasty smirk Adrien's way, one that made the model boy's blood turn to ice in his veins. Then, the moment right before Marinette turned back, Henri was back to his former, cheerful, non-threatening self, chatting happily with her.

All of the sudden, Adrien felt sick, his head spinning, his stomach churning, his heartbeat ceasing fir a few seconds before it started beating a hundred times a minute. He didn't know what had just happened or why, but he had an awful feelings that things would never be the same again.


	2. The Ol’ Sympathetic Ear

Marinette adjusted the straps of her backpack over her shoulders. Taking her lunch break at home wasn't something she really enjoyed, but it did provide her a much-needed break from all the Lila drama, if only a short one.

As she headed for the exit, she heard a gentle voice call out to her. She glanced over her shoulder to see Henri standing there, smiling. "Where are you going?"

"Home for lunch.", she said plainly. "Its the only way I can get a break from you-know-who."

He followed her line of vision to the class, all crowded around their teller of tales, who was drinking in all the attention. The only ones who were absent from her shrine were Marinette, Henri and Adrien, who was taking his lunch break at a photoshoot.

Henri smirked. "If you're worried about being lonely, I'll sit with you."

Marinette brightened a bit. "Really?" It felt like such a long time since someone had sat with her at lunch. Everyone always flocked to Lila's table to hear more stories about her totally awesome, totally fake life. For Mari, it was either sit alone or join the others at Lila's place, and heaven knows that last one wasn't going to happen.

Henri nodded. "Really. We'll sit far away from those dumb sheep."

Marinette winced. Whether or not they chose to believe Lila's stupid stories, she wasn't very comfortable with someone calling them "dumb sheep". On the other hand, they weren't really making a good first impression on Henri, and he was only trying to make her feel better. So she decided to let it slide just this once.

He offered her his hand. "Shall we, m'lady?"

Marinette blinked at that nickname. M'lady. That was Chat Noir's name for her when they saw each other in costume. Even though she found the name cheesy and a little irritating, she wasn't sure she was comfortable with someone else referring to her in the same way. But Henri didn't know. So she just took his hand and didn't say a word.  
\---------------  
Alya got some napkins from the lunch supplies table and placed them onto her tray hastily. Lila was in the middle of the story of how she had been offered a movie deal, and the journalist did not want to miss a second of it. However, as soon, as she spun around, she caught sight of something that, for once, made her forget all about Lila for a minute.

Marinette was sitting at a table far away. But she wasn't alone. The new guy was sitting with her, just like he had in class. They looked just as comfy and cozy together as they had in the back row. Alya picked up on their dynamic right away. Even though they had only just met hours before, they were chatting and laughing like they had known each other for ages.

Then something bug happened, so big, Alya might have never forgiven herself if she had missed it. Marinette blushed. Her cheeks turned a soft pink, her cheeks swelling as the corners of her mouth pressed up against them, as she looked at Henri. Alya recognized that blush right away. It was the exact same blush that was usually saved for Adrien, and on occasion, Luka. It surprised Alya. This guy must have been smooth to get that blush on his first day.

Alya hadn't realized that she had arrived at the table until she bumped into the ledge, bruising her hip. "Yow!"

The others immediately asked if she was alright, and she quickly said she was fine. Satisfied with her answer, they all turned their attention back to Lila, who picked up where she had left off. Only this time, Alya was paying no attention.

She knew she should be happy that Marinette had a new friend. But there was something about Henri that just gave Alya a funny feeling in her stomach.  
\-----------------  
"No! No! This is all wrong!" Vincent groaned in frustration as his subject refused to work with him. "Come on! Show me Adrien Agreste's smile!"

He tried again, but still, the boy's smile did not appear. Finally, Vincent ordered a five minute break in hopes that the model would use the time to take care of whatever was ailing him.

Adrien knew that he should be more cooperative, but he didn't feel like smiling. All day, the sinking feeling that he had gotten from Henri's nasty look had stuck with him, and he hadn't been able to shake it. All he could think about was the cruel smirk on the other boy's cocoa lips, and the scheming glint in his eye. How could he get such a bad feeling in his gut from one look from a guy he didn't even know?

Not to mention, the way he had switched from nice guy to wicked and back again so fast was baffling. The exchange was as quick as lightning. Blink at the wrong moment, and you'd miss it entirely. And it had all hinged on whether or not Marinette was looking. Did she have something to do with it?

"Hey, kid. You ready to get back to work, or are you still lost in la la land?"

Plagg's voice piped up in the privacy of the dressing room, jerking Adrien out of his thoughts. The green-eyed boy sighed as he ran his hands through his golden hair. "I just can't stop thinking about that new guy, Plagg. I don't know what it is, but something about him bugs me."

"Maybe its jealousy.", suggested his kwami.

Adrien looked flustered at such an idea. "Jealousy? Why would I be jealous of that guy? I just met him!" 

Plagg rolled his eyes. "No reason."

Adrien glared at his friend as the tiny cat ate his beloved Camembert, back to minding his own business.  
\------------------  
"So, Adrien knows, but he's not doing anything?"

Marinette sighed. She had just finished relaying the entire story to her new friend, no details spared. She had tried her best to give others perspectives as well as her own, so that her friends would not look like total jerks, but he still seemed entirely disgusted by their actions, especially Adrien's.

"Its not entirely his fault. He missed a bunch of stuff, and I've left out a few details when talking to him as well."

”Why?", asked Henri. "Don't you want him on your side?"

Marinette fidgeted. "I dunno...I mean, Lila's already gotten akumatized three times. And each time, she's been a tough foe for Ladybug and Chat Noir. I don't want to trigger her a fourth time. What if next time, she actually succeeds as a akuma? I can't set that into motion!"

Henri rolled his eyes. "If you want, Marinetre, I won't say anything. But if you ask me...I think you'd be better off not listening to Adrien. In fact...dare I say, I think you're better off without him, period. And that goes for your other so-called 'friends'. You deserve better."

Marinette beamed, her stomach full of butterflies, the good kind, not the kind used by Hawkmoth. "That's so sweet of you."  
\------------------  


Adrien arrived back at school for the rest of the school day and sat in his usual seat at the front. Lila was still there, and Nino and Alya sat in the row behind him. Marinette had not arrived back at class yet, but Adrien was hoping when she did, she would get her seat back so he did not have to sit next to Lila.

Moments later, she walked into the classroom. Adrien brightened a bit—until Henri walked in right behind her. They were engaged in yet another conversation, and it was really starting to cheese off Adrien that every time he saw them, they were chitchatting as if they were the best of friends, considering how Henri still gave him a churning stomach feeling whenever he entered his vision.

Still, he put on his usual fake smile, the one he had perfected from years of nonstop modeling, and said cheerily, "Hi, Marinette!"

To his shock, she didn't seem to hear him. She didn't even glance in his direction. Her blue eyes were locked onto Henri's brown ones as they climbed the stairs, passing by Adrien and all the others as if they weren't even there. It was once they reached the middle of the steps did Adrien notice they were holding hands.

Alya noticed the sad, surprised look on Adrien's face, and leaned in towards him.

"They spent all of lunch together.", she whispered, catching Nino and Lila's attention. "He was talking her up like he's known her all his life! And get this—once, when I was looking at her, she blushed!"

She hit that last word hard. "Hit" being a good word to describe her tone, because that one word made Adrien feel like he'd taken a hit to a gut.

Nino looked baffled at the idea. Here, he and his girlfriend had been plotting and scheming for months to get their two best friends to date one another. And now, just like that, her interests had changed? What a turn of events! It was a discovery that needed a few moment to process in his head.

Lila, on the other hand, could scarcely contain her delight. She knew now that she had made the right choice bargaining with Henri. Not only was he steering Marinette away from her friends, but he was actually catching her eye and her heart. Which meant one less girl Lila had to compete with for Adrien's attention. She managed to keep her cool as she commented slyly, "I think they make a lovely couple. Don't you, Adrien?"

Choking down the urge to vomit, the blond boy mumbled out, "Sure.", and turned to Mme. Bustier, hoping that the focus on his lessons would distract him from the fact that that sickly feeling he had caught from Henri had been increased by a thousandfold.


	3. The Plot Thickens

Adrien swung his sword about absentmindedly, his thoughts on something other than fencing strategies for practice in ten minutes. It had been two whole weeks since Henri had arrived at school, and nothing had gotten better. In fact, if Adrien was being completely honest with himself, things were kind of worse.

Marinette was spending all her time with Henri. She walked to class with him, sat in the back row with him, ate her lunch with him, and even hung out afterschool and on weekends with him. They barely spent a moment apart. Which wouldn't have been so bad, except that it seemed as if the more time she spent with Henri, the less time she spent with everyone else.

Marinette had not spoken with Adrien very often before, that was true. But now she scarcely even said hi to him when she walked past him in the halls with Henri. It seemed as of whenever the brunette boy was around, he somehow triggered a force of some sort that made Adrien invisible. Mari hardly even responded to his texts anymore.

Adrien had been expecting, or rather hoping, that the sick feeling Henri gave him would simply fade away over time. But the results were quite opposite. The longer Henri stayed, the more the sickly sensation inside of Adrien grew and grew, until just looking at Henri would make him dizzy and nauseous.

Adrien sighed, pushing his bad feelings to the bottom for now, and went off to the yard to begin.  
\----------------  
Plop! Adrien fell on his rear end once more. Getting back up for the fifth time that afternoon, he wielded his sword.

"Engarde!"

He waited for his fencing partner to strike back. Instead, the opponent in the red suit stood still. Adrien repeated the phrase. In response, Kagami lifted away her mask, and Adrien saw the concern on her face.

"You seem off today.", she said in her usual monotone. "Is something bothering you?"

Adrien was quick to shake his head. "No! Of course not!"

Kagami narrowed her dark eyes at him. The blond relented. He knew he could not hide anything from her. She could see through anyone's phoniness almost instantly.

"Fine.", he moaned. "Its...Its my friend, Marinette. We haven't talked in a while."

A soft gasp escaped Kagami's lips. Not talked? How was this possible? She had known from the start that Marinette was absolutely head over heels for Adrien.

"Did you have a disagreement?"

Adrien shook his head. "No...there's this new guy in school. Ever since he showed up, she's kinda been ignoring me. I know I should be happy that she has a new friend and all, but..." He didn't finish.

Kagami pursed her lips. "But?", she pushed him to go further.

Adrien braced himself. "I can't explain why...but something about him rubs me the wrong way. Ever time I look at him, I get this really bad feeling, like I'm gonna throw up or something. Which is totally weird because he's never said a word to me, but he gave me this weird look and...I just don't feel like I can trust him. And its driving me crazy that I don't know why I feel this way about him!"

Kagami puckered her lips, pondering Adrien's words. Finally, she said, "Perhaps you don't like him because you're jealous."

She looked at him, waiting for a reply. He lifted his mask, and Kagami saw the annoyed look at his face.

"Jealousy? Why would I be jealous of him?" First Plagg, now Kagami?

The fencer paused. From where she stood, it seemed like the most logical explanation. This new boy shows up and steals all of Marinette's attention, and Adrien had already admitted to feeling ignored by her. To support her thesis, Adrien had always been rather dense. He had to have been, to not recognize that Marinette had a crush on him, even though it was quite clear to literally everyone else. Perhaps he just never experienced jealousy before and therefore, could not identify it.

Finally, after a moment of quiet between them, she said quite simply, "No reason."

Adrien frowned at her, but did not push the subject further. They went straight back to practicing.  
\------------  
"...and then the guy says, 'Banana? I don't even own one!'"

Tom and Sabine burst into peals of laughter at his joke. "Good one!", Tom choked out between chuckles.

Henri looked back at Marinette, who was finishing mixing the batter, and they shared a smile.

"Oh, Henri! You're a riot!", said Sabine. "We're glad Marinette met you! You're such a nice young man!"

"Thank you, Madame Cheng.", said Henri. He stepped behind Marinette and started holding her arms from behind, making her blush, and helped her pour the batter carefully into the pan. "I'm glad Marinette met me, too. She is just the most amazing girl I've ever met!"

Marinette giggled. "Oh, Henri...you're making me blush."

"Well, its true.", the brunette boy insisted as they poured the batter together. "You're so kind and talented, and I don't need to tell you that you're the prettiest girl in school!"

Marinette smirked a bit. "You should tell Chloe that. She's pretty convinced she holds that title."

Sabine and Tom could not stop smiling. It had been months since they had seen their daughter this happy. Ever since that dreadful Lila girl had come to school, it seemed as if Marinette had been slowly fading away back into her old, withdrawn self. But that light inside had glowing brighter at rapid speed since Henri had walked into her life. And the Dupain-Chengs wanted it to stay that way.

Tom spoke out first. "Marinette, this boy's a keeper! I suggest you snatch him up before some other lucky gal does!"

Marinette's face turned bright red. "Papa!" Sabine winced.

Tom looked back at his wife. “Too much?"

"Too much."

Tom looked back at the teens bashfully. "I'll just go...check on the bread." He and Sabine exited, leaving the two alone in the kitchen.

Marinette kept her face averted from Henri's gaze by picking up the pan of batter and bringing to the oven. "I am so sorry about them...they can get in a little too deep when it comes to my love life." She then added under her breath as she opened the oven door and slid the pan in, just low enough so Henri could not hear, "Just ask Chat."

"Really?", came Henri's voice from behind her as she shut the door. "Because I think your dad has the right idea."

Every muscle in Marinette's body froze when she heard that. Slowly, she turned around, half expecting to see Henri with a goofy grin on his face. But his eyes and smile were sincere as he gazed at her longingly.

He reached out and took her hand in his, smiling fondly at her, adoration etched all over his face. "Marinette...I know I can be kinda a goof sometimes, but...I am crazy about you. You are the kind of girl I've always wanted. So...I was wondering if...you would like to...be my girlfriend?"

He looked away, a faint blush dusting his cheeks. "I understand if you say no, but..."

Marinette felt her heart implode with happiness. "Henri...I dunno what to say. I...I like you, too! I mean, I know we've only known each other for a couple weeks, but...it feels like I've known you my entire life. You're the type of boy I've akways fantasized about. Gentle and kind, warm and affectionate...I was so lonely before you came into my life. But now that you're in it...you've made me feel things that I haven't felt for a while."

Henri's brown eyes twinkled at her. "So...is that a yes?"

Marinette beamed. "Yes, Henri. I would love to be your girlfriend." 

Henri seemed to take that as an invitation to kiss her on the mouth. Marinette tensed up at first, but soon, her lips melted into his. He tasted like mint. It was glorious.

As they broke apart, Marinette reached for her phone. "My first official relationship! I gotta tell Alya and the girls."

Henri coughed, catching her attention, and she saw he looked a tad uncomfortable. "What?" 

"Again with Alya."

Marinette frowned, the high from the confirmation of their new status rapidly falling. "Well, she is my best friend."

"Is she?", asked Henri, his sudden indication shocking his new girlfriend. "Is she really? After all the times she believed Lila over you?"

Marinette furrowed her brow at him. "Henri, we've been over this. Its not Alya's fault. Lila is new. What, was Alya just supposed to assume that she's a liar just because I say she is, even without any proof to back me up?"

"So, she assumes you're lying out of jealousy?", said Henri. "You're her best friend. She should know better."

"I don't have proof Lila is lying."

"And Alya has proof that she's not?" "There's no proof on either side, so Alya wants to give Lila the benefit of the doubt."

"What about you? You were her friend first. Why don't you get the benefit of the doubt?"

Marinette stared him down. "Henri, I don't like this attitude. I don't want our relationship to start on a sour note. Alya is my friend. They all are. Maybe its hard for you to understand why I'm sticking up for them, because you transferred at a bad time, but they're not bad people. Are they doing something not nice? Sure. Everybody does. Doing a few bad things doesn't make you a bad person. I know in my heart that my friends are good people, who care about me."

Henri looked doubtful, deep in thought, as she continued. "Its not entirely their fault. Lila is manipulating them. She's preying on their lusts and desires, feeding them fantasies. I'm not about to give up on them. I just have to keep trying and hope, hope, hope that they see the truth soon. I know its hard, but I'm willing to wait out the storm for them. Because friends don't give up on each other. No matter what."

Her big blue eyes were shiny as she looked up at Henri. "Please...if you had come here earlier, if you had gotten to know them before Lila came...you would know that they're not bad people. You would know they're worth fighting for."

For the longest time, Henri was silent, and it killed her. But she was brought back to life when he smiled and said sweetly, "Okay, Mari. If you say so...I'll wait out the storm with you."

Marinette let out a squeak of joy and leapt up to hug him. "Thank you, Henri! It'll be so much easier to bear this whole thing with you by my side!"

"I'm here for you, Maribelle.", he said kindly. "And I'm gonna help you in any way I can."

Since Marinette had her head on his shoulder, she did not see the cruel smile that graced his lips, or the malevolent look in his eyes that in no way matched his tone of voice.  
\------------------  
Lila was doing her homework when her phone dinged with a text. She looked at the screen and saw a sequence of numbers that she did not recognize. The text itself was coear.

We need to talk.

Lila picked up the device and called the number. It picked up after the first ring. "Its me."

Lila's brow furrowed. "Henri? Why are you calling me?"

"I'm calling to update the plan."

Lila got even more perplexed. "Update?"

"You know, the plan to separate Marinette from her friends.", he explained over the phone. "We need to change strategies."

Lila frowned. "Why?"

"I've been trying to poison her mind against the class since day one.", said Henri. "I thought the more I kept her away from them and was the model friend, she'd eventually drop them. But no matter how much I remind her if what they did, she still makes excuses for them. Its clear her heart is too strong. If we keep doing things this way, nothing will change. As long as she thinks they're good at heart and they're only victims of you, she's gonna keep fighting for them."

Lila listened to every word with patience and understanding. He was right. Marinette was too fond of her friends to let them go without a fight. Smearing her name would do little to deter her from her mission. This was proven.

"So, what do you suggest we do instead?"

If only Lila could have seen the smirk that spread across Henri's face, full of malice and spite, before he went on.

“You've done all you can to turn the class against her. Now its time to pull the ol' switcheroo."

Lila was confused. "The ol' switcheroo? What exactly are you suggesting, LeRoi?"

"Instead of turning the class against Marinette,", he explained, his voice holding a touch of excitement for the new strategy he was about to propose. "We need to start on turning her against them."

Lila's eyes widened, her eyebrows hidden under her blunt bangs. "Turn Marinette against her friends?"

"Marinette knows that the only reason her friends are acting cold is because they're being manipulated by you.", Henri explained, like a professor reciting a lesson to his students. "So, we have to convince her that you have nothing to do with their new attitude. If she think that they're truly the bullies they're acting like now, that that's who they've always been all along, she'll think they're not worth fighting for."

Lila grinned from ear to ear. Of course... Marinette was too pure and strong of heart to ever give up on someone she thought was worth saving. So the only way to get her to back off her friends was to make her believe they weren't worth saving. If the class fell out of her favor, she would stop fighting for them, leaving them in Lila's clutches forever. It was perfect.

"How can I help?", she asked.

"Make up an excuse to not come to school for the next few weeks.", Henri told her. "This is something I need to start solo. Stay out of school for at least a week, and when you come back, we'll discuss further plans there."

"Deal. I'll just tell everyone my mom had a last-minute mission. And I'll fake an illness with my mom. Good luck."

She hung up the phone, then dialed another, more familiar number on it.

"Gabriel? Its Lila. I thought I should keep you updated. There's been a slight change of plans. Let me explain..."


	4. True Colors

Adrien looked through his satchel, gathering his things for class, when Marinette skipped into the classroom, grinning like the cat that got the cream, and humming a happy tune under her breath. Nino, sitting next to Adrien, saw her upbeat demeanor and smiled back. "Well, someone's in a good mood today!", he remarked. Marinette nodded. "I sure am! Where's Alya? I want her to hear this!" "She's running a lil' late.", said Nino. "Why? Whaddaya want her to hear?"

Marinette looked towards the doorway as Henri walked into the classroom, and Adrien had to try and quell his sick stomach once again. "I have a big announcement!", Marinette cried, facing the whole class, who all responded by scooting to the edge of their seats, watching their class representative with wide eyes to show they were listening.

Adrien's green eyes took on a tinge of shock when Marinette reached over and took Henri's hand, lacing his fingers with her own. Her eyes were soft as she looked up at him. Adrien gulped. He wasn't sure what she would say next, but he had a feeling he wasn't going to like it. Marinette looked back her friends and declared, "As of yesterday afternoon, Henri and I are an official couple!"

Adrien felt as if the ground had collapsed under him, leaving to fall into a never-ending vortex of darkness. A black hole opened in his chest, threatening to shallow everything there. He became numb to everything around him. The only thing he could feel was his heart pounding heavily, so hard that he could hear it in his ears.

The rest of the class, however, looked surprised. They had known for a while that Marinette had been in love with Adrien. How had things changed so fast? Still, she seemed happy enough, beaming at Henri. It was best they not come between that. Nino coughed. "That's great, Marinette! Your first boyfriend! This is a big deal."

"Yeah, Marinette!", added Nathaniel. "We're really happy for you."

"I think you two make such a cute couple!", Rose swooned romantically.

"I gotta admit, Dupain-Cheng,", said Chloe. "You picked a good one. That kid's a real catch."

Marinette smiled as the class showered her and Henri with sweet words of support. All but one.

She saw Adrien sitting in the fromt row, his head bowed. "Adrien?" He looked up, jolting as if he had just awoken suddenly from a nightmare. If only this was a nightmare and not reality, he thought. "Adrien? You've been awfully quiet." Adrien hesitated to answer. Marinette's bluebell eyes were soft, like those of a puppy, silently pleading for his approval of her relationship. How could he tell Marinette that he didn't like Henri? That he didn't feel her boyfriend could be trusted?

No, he could not ruin this for her. He had seen the way she had looked at Henri before she had made the announcement. Like he was the only boy she had ever seen. All he had to back him up on his distrust of Henri was a bad feeling in his gut. That was not enough to convince Adrien to oppose his new relationship with Marinette.

So instead of telling Marinette how he really felt about her new boyfriend, Adrien plastered on a smile, tht fake smile that he had put on so many times, that he had mastered feigning through years of living with his father, and spoke his lines flawlessly, as if they took no effort, when in reality, it was taking everything he had keep up the charade of happiness. "I'm really glad for you, Marinette. Henri is...really lucky to have you."

Her bluebell eyes lit up at his answer, giving him that smile, that sweet, gentle smile that made it all worth it. "Thank you, Adrien. Coming from you...that means a lot to me." He kept his smile on as he looked up at her, silently chanting in his head, its for Marinette, its for Marinette. No one could fake being okay better than Adrien Agreste.

"Oh, by the way.", Nino chimed in. "Lila's gonna be out for the rest of the week. Her mom had a last minute mission. So you can sit in your old seat if you want." Marinette smiled and nodded. She looked back at Henri, eyes silently requesting permission. He smirked and nodded. Pecking him on the cheek, Marinette ducked under her boyfriend's arm and slid back into her old seat, welcoming it's presence like that of a long-lost friend.

When she reached to get her notebook, she felt someone slide in next to her. She looked back, expecting to see Alya, but was met with Henri's handsome face instead. Marinette blinked a few times. "Henri, you can't sit there. That's Alya's seat." Henri shrugged. "I'm sure she won't mind." Marinette frowned a bit, her pretty eyebrows knitting together. "We should ask her first."

Henri frowned at this. "Why are you so against this? Didn't she do the same to you? Push you out of your seat so she could sit with her boyfriend?" Nino, who had been listening in, sat upright when he heard that. Henri was bringing up painful memories and grudges from the past so he could still sit with his girlfriend. Nino shut his eyes tight, expecting Marinette to agree.

She didn't.

"No, Henri.", she said irritably. "I can't do that to Alya. What, she hurts me, so I hurt her back?" "You know what they say, baby.", Henri told her. "An eye for an eye." "You know what else they say?", she added. "An eye for an eye makes the whole world go blind. Hurting Alya back wouldn't do any good. It'd just make me a petty person. And I'm not a petty person.

She took a deep breath. "Look, you can sit there until Alya gets back. Then you can ask her if its okay for you to sit there. If she says no, please move to a different seat." As she turned her attention to the inside of her purse, Adrien and Nino exchanged wary looks.

Seconds later, Alya came running inti the classroom, weary and out of breath. "Sorry I'm late. I overslept editing the Lady..." She lifted her head to see someone else sitting in her seat next to Marinette. "...blog." Her eyes narrowed behind her glasses at Henri, who shot her a nasty smirk. Marinette didn't notice, as she was writing in her notebook. Alya approached her friend meekly, worried about what she thought was happening. "Marinette?" She looked up, and her pink lips formed an O shape. "Oh! Alya, you're back!" She pointed her pen at her boyfriend beside her. "I told Henri he could sit there until you got back!" Alya sighed in relief. Her worst fears had been debunked.

Henri leaned over and looked at Alya. "You don't mind if we switch seats, right?" Under normal circumstances, Alya might have been willing. But there was something about the look he was giving her, a look that Marinette did not see as she was looking at Alya, that did not sit right with her. Reluctantly, Alya forced out uncertainly, "Uh...I mind a little?"

It was then that Henri's face turned deadly. His face hardened in seconds, and his narrowed eyes took on a sort of glare that made Alya feel cold all over her body. "Why not?", he said, in a tone that was like ice. "You certainly had no problem pushing her to the back so you could sit with your boyfriend."

The silence that followed was louder than if they had all been screaming at the top of their lungs. The three were now the center of attention in the classroom. Wide eyes and wide jaws accompanied almost every face gathered around. The only face that was different was Henri's. He was smirking at Alya in the exact same way Chloe had in the past when she mocked one of her peers.

Alya's face pinched as she stared at Henri. "I...Lila needed the front seat, because of her tinnitus!" Henri looked unmoved. "Marinette didn't sit in the front seat. Nino did." He jerked a thumb towards the capped boy sitting in front of him. "So why couldn't he move to the back? Why did he have to take Marinette's seat?"

Alya felt like she just got punched in the gut. The memories he had mentioned replayed in her head, and realization hit her like a ton of bricks—Henri was right. There was no excuse for what they had done. They didn't need to kick Marinette out of her seat just so Lila could sit in the front row. A wave of shame washed over the auburn-haired girl like a tsumani.

She glanced over at Nino, who now wore the same face she did. A face of guilt. Faced with their mistakes and explanations of it, they had suddenly realized what jerks they had been, pushing aside their close friend just so they could sit together. Alya, the girl who always had a new scoop to announce, questions to ask, a gift for words, was suddenly speechless.

Marinette was shocked at her boyfriend's behavior. "Henri! That wasn't nice! I told you I wasn't pushing Alya out of her seat! I forgave her for that." Alya's heart both melted and broke. She felt grateful and awful at the same time. She had done something nasty to Marinette, and she still refused to give her a dose of her own medicine, even though Alya would not have blamed her in the slightest if she had.

"No, Mari...", she said softly as Marinette turned around. "He's got a point. I...it was wrong of me to do that. Push you out without your permission. I should have said this sooner...I'm really sorry." Marinette looked sad. "Its okay, Alya. Really, it is. But that doesn't mean I should do the same to you. I'm not that kinda girl."

Alya faked a smile. "Its okay, Marinette. Henri can sit with you. I can go to the back." Marinette's eyes grew sad. "Are you sure?" Another prick. She was so certain not to subject Alya to some karma. She did not deserve Marinette as a friend. Shaking her head, the brunette said in the sweetest tone possible, "Yeah, its fine. I came in late anyway."

Marinette's sad eyes followed Alya as she trudged up the steps to the back of the classroom. She was pulled out of her fantasies by Henri's hand on her shoulder. She looked back at her smiling boyfriend. "See? Toldja she wouldn't mind." Marinette frowned. "After you brought up the past.", she added bitterly. "I told you I wasn't mad at her anymore. And even if I was, that doesn't give you permission to exact revenge. This is between me and Alya."

Henri's face looked sorrowful. "Oh...you're right, baby. I'm really sorry. I'll apologize to her after class. Promise." She looked doubtful as he kissed her on the cheek, but sighed and gave him a sort of smile. "Okay...as long as you're sorry." She smirked. "You're lucky I like you so much." "I sure am.", he confirmed.

Madame Bustier came into the classroom and noticed the new seating arrangement. As Alya explained to her that she was okay switching seats, Adrien replayed the memory of Henri sneering at her over and over again in his mind's eye. He recognized the smirk he had given her. It was the exact same look Henri had given him the day they first saw each other.

At first, Adrien had thought that maybe it had all been in his head. But now...maybe that bad feeling he had about Henri wasn't just jealousy after all.


	5. Bad News

Alya tried to focus on the school lesson, but her attention was elsewhere. From the back, she had a good view of Marinette and Henri in the second row. And she saw a few things that were not to her liking.

Marinette was trying to focus on what Mme. Bustier was saying, but she had a distraction of her own. And his name was Henri LeRoi. He kept whispering in her ear, drawing her attention away from the teacher, giving her smiles instead of looking towards the front of the room. One time, he even put his arm around her, his right hand resting on her right arm, rubbing her skin up and down.

Alya frowned. Had this boy shamed her out of her seat just so he could flirt with Marinette during class? Alya knew she had been in the wrong, pushing Mari out because of Lila, but that did not give Henri the right to do the same to her. Especially not that it was clear that he did not really care about avenging Marinette, he had only done what he had to get to sit next to her.

Marinette seemed annoyed by this new attention, shushing Henri and pulling his arm away. She scolded him in a whisper, making it clear that now was not the time for romance. After that, Henri seemed to settle for giving her charming smiles when she wasn't looking. Alya watched him like a hawk for the rest of class.

Soon, the lesson ended, and it was almost time for lunch. Henri followed Marinette out of the room, while the rest stayed behind to discuss their own lunch plans. Alya walked up the gang and knocked on a desk to grab their attention. It worked. 

"We need to talk about Henri."

Rose blinked. "You mean, Marinette's new boyfriend?"

Alya was flabbergasted. "Boyfriend?!"

"She announced it to the class before you came in.", explained Kim. "Apparently, they've going out as of yesterday."

Alya was shocked. Marinette was dating the new guy?! She hadn't even known that Marinette was over Adrien. She felt guilty for not being around much more and not being aware of her friend's new love.

Alya frowned. "I dunno if I want her dating that kid...there's something about him that rubs me the wrong way. And the way he used my past mistakes against me, just to get what he wanted...I mean, I know what I did to Mari was wrong but...does that mean he gets to hurt me in the same way?"

Adrien stepped forward. "Guys, come on. He loves Marinette. He's probably still mad on her behalf. And you can't blame him. I'm sure he'll come around."

Alya's cocoa lips twisted into a tight pout of deep thought. "I dunno...did you see the way he was trying to distract her in class? With his whispers and his arm rubs and everything, always trying to get her attention...I think he just wanted the seat so he could flirt with her during class."

The rest of the class was silent. They didn't know how to respond to that. Ivan and Mylene just walked out of class together, hand in hand. They saw Henri and Marinette by the staircase.

"I need to get something from my locker. Can you wait here?"

"No problem, babydoll." She pecked him on the cheek and hurried off, leaving Henri alone. Now was as good a time as ever.

"Hey!"

Ivan came up to Henri. "That wasn't cool what you did to Alya."

"What?"

"You know, how you shoved her to the back just so you could flirt with Marinette during class."

Henri just shrugged like it was nothing. "Why not? Give her a taste of her own med, sounds good to me."

"Except that's not really your business, Henri.", Ivan told him. "Sure, what they did wasn't cool, we realize that now. But that doesn't give you the right to attack them in the same way. Especially since we're pretty sure what you did wasn't about getting justice for Marinette. You just wanted to get Alya's seat so you could make the moves on Mari."

Henri narrowed his eyes and took a step towards his tall classmate, towering him by a whole head. "Look here, Bruel. If I were you, I'd watch what I said. I can make you regret those words. Trust me, you wouldn't like me as an enemy."

Ivan simply quirked an eyebrow at him. "Bold of you to assume I liked you to begin with."

Henri smirked. "Very well.", he spoke calmly, stepping around Ivan so that he stood on the edge of the stairs, still facing his foe. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Out of nowhere, he grabbed Ivan's hands and placed them on his shoulders. Before Ivan could ask what the heck he was doing, Henri toppled over backwards, tumbling down the hard metal steps until he hit the ground in a moaning heap.

"Henri!"

Ivan and Mylene turned around to see Marinette, who had barely arrived on the scene. She pushed Ivan aside and went running down the stairs to her beloved boyfriend's side. "Henri, are you alright?!, she whimpered, helping him to an upright sitting position. "What happened?!" 

Henri pointed a finger right up at Ivan, wearing a face of hurt and despair. "He pushed me down the stairs!"

"WHAT?!", Marinette screamed, her head whipping to glare up at a shellshocked Ivan.

Henri hung his head. "Its true. He yelled at me for pushing Alya out of her seat, called me a jerk, and then shoved down the steps."

Marinette rose up, her eyes narrowed up at her classmate standing on top of the stairs. "Ivan, how could you do that?!"

"I didn't!", the other boy exclaimed. Some of his classmates were now out of the room, watching the scene unfold.

Marinette crossed her arms. "Ivan, I saw you with your hands on his shoulders!"

"I didn't push him!", Ivan insisted. "He put my hands on his shoulders, and then pretended to fall!"

"The fall looked pretty real to me.", Marinette remarked.

"Marinette, Ivan's telling the truth!", cried Mylene. "Henri set him up so it'd look like he pushed him!"

For a moment, Marinette looked as if she might believe them. Suddenly, Henri moaned loudly, getting her attention. She knelt beside him, both hands on one of his shoulders. "Henri, what is it? What's wrong?"

Henri looked at her like a kicked puppy. "I think I banged up my ankle pretty bad in the fall."

"Oh, you poor thing!", she cried. "Here, let me take you to the nurse!"

She slung his arm over her neck and helped him stand on one foot. "Keep it elevated."

Her head lifted up, and the look she gave Ivan and Mylene was the dirtiest anyone had ever seen on her sweet face, even dirtier than one she had given Chloe and Lila. "Ivan, when you're ready to apologize to him, let me know."

All jaws hung open as she watched Marinette help her boyfriend hop towards the nurse's office. Alix ran up to Mylene. "My, what happened?" 

"I'll tell you what happened!", Mylene cried. "Ivan confronted Henri about what he did to Alya. He didn't yell or anything. He wasn't even mean about it. He just said that it was up to Marinette to decide how she treated Alya and Nino for what they did, and it wasn't up to him to decide how she should treat them."

"And then, Henri got all up in my face, saying that he could make me regret what I said and I wouldn't like him as an enemy.", explained Ivan hysterically. "And then he set things up and put my hands on his shoulders and fell over to make it look like I pushed him!"

The class gasped in horror. "He did that?"

The class couple nodded their heads.

Adrien leaned over the railing, watched as Marinette helped stagger to get his ankle checked. Henri caught sight of the blond's eyes on him, and looked at him with a nasty grin, similar to the one he'd worn on the first day, and the one he had given to Alya when he guilted her into giving him her seat. Of course, when Marinette looked back at him, he was all sad and whimpering, like a wounded gazelle.

Adrien's eyes narrowed as he watched the two vanish from sight. He knew now. It wasn't just jealousy that was making him feel nauseous around the new boy. Henri LeRoi was bad news.


	6. Karma Hurts

Alya walked down the hall. She had to talk to Marinette. About Henri. She might have believed the fall story, if she not seen that wicked grin he had given her and the others when his girlfriend wasn't looking. She just knew he had set up the stage to look like Ivan had pushed him, to get the bigger boy on Marinette's bad side.

As she neared the nurse's office, she stopped suddenly when she saw him. Henri was standing in the hallway, looking back and forth, probably for Marinette. His right ankle, the one that he had claimed was hurt in his tumble down the stairs, was taped up. Except...he was standing firmly on both feet, including the one that was supposed to be injured. And he did not seem in the least bit of pain.

"LeRoi!"

His head snapped to look at Alya, who glared deadly at him. "Didn't you say you hurt your ankle?" 

His brown eyes widened as he looked at his ankle then back at her. He raised his right foot and put on a facade of discomfort, pretending to ooh and aah in pain.

Alya stomped over to him. "Nice try, buddy. Too little, too late. You're not really hurt, are you? You just said that to get Marinette on your side!"

Henri dropped his wounded gazelle act, replacing it with the act of a hyena after a fresh meal. "Well, it worked, didn't it? I told your friend not to cross me. I told him he wouldn't like me as a foe. He learned the hard way."

His mouth then twisted into a frown. "Take him as a cautionary figure to the rest of you. Stay out of my way, or face the reprecussions." Alya's mouth fell open. "I can't believe—"

"Henri?"

At the sound of her voice, Henri went from being the sly fox to the hurt widdle bunny all over again as Marinette came into view. "You need help getting to the cafeteria?”

"Yeah, that'd be helpful.", he said, in a sort-of whimpering voice.

Alya was so shocked by how fast he had changed faces, all she could do was stare as Henri hopped over to Marinette on one foot, letting her lead him away.  
\------------------  
It was now lunchtime. As the students went around, looking for a place to sit, they noticed Marinette come in, Henri leaning on her, limping on one foot, his ankle taped up. She led him to a table near the wall and helped him sit without putting any weight on his foot. "You good?"

Henri smiled weakly at her, pulling his ankle up to massage it gently. "I'm better..."

She smiled at him sweetly, cupping his strong chiseled cheek. "I'm glad. I'm sorry Ivan pushed you like that. I honestly don't know what could have gotten into him. He's usually so gentle." She shook her head. "But I digress. You stay right here, and I'll get us some lunch, kay?"

She kissed him on the cheek and went off to the lunch line, grabbing two trays, one for her, and one for Henri. She started gathering food to carry on the tray, picking out all of Henri's favorites. As she reached for a pudding cup, her hand bumped into another's, a bulkier one. She turned to see who was connected to the arm, and found Ivan staring back at her.

Marinette's expression soured, as her eyes gave him an icy glare. "Oh. Hey." She quickly grabbed the last pudding cup before he could. He didn't deserve it, she thought.

Ivan frowned. "Marinette, listen..."

"I don't wanna hear it, Ivan!", she snapped at him coldly. "You're lucky Henri didn't break anything! Else I would have reported you to the teacher."

"But I didn't do anything!", Ivan cried. "Marinette, you've gotta believe me!"

Marinette fumed on the inside. So, he didn't believe her when she said Lila was lying, but he still expected her to believe him instantly when he said Henri was lying? Henri, who had been nothing but kind to her from the day he got there?

"I saw you touch him, Ivan.", she said in a tone of voice that was, while composed and dignified, was seething with heated undertones. "I saw you with your hands on him, right before he fell. What am I supposed to believe?"

Ivan opened his mouth to defend himself, but was silenced by a cold glare from Marinette, who then stated, "Look, until you apologize to Henri, I don't wanna talk to you."

She strutted to the register to pay for the lunches, leaving Ivan standing in his place, frozen with his mouth hanging open. He turned to Kim and Max, who looked equally shocked.

"She said she doesn't want to talk to me.", Ivan said sadly.

He and the other two watched her go off, a lunch tray in each hand, back to her boyfriend, who was waiting for her. She greeted him with a smile and a kiss.

Mylene was waiting for her boyfriend, sitting with the rest of the class, and was confused when he came back without his lunch tray. "Ivan, where's your lunch?"

Ivan looked at her with a kicked puppy. "I lost my appetite."

He looked back towards Marinette, sitting with Henri on the other side of the cafeteria. "I tried to talk to her, but she wouldn't listen. She says she doesn't want to talk to me until I apologize to him."

"But you didn't do anything!", Mylene cried.

"That's not what she thinks.", said Ivan. "She saw me with my hands on him right before he fell."

Mylene deflated. "Yeah...he staged that very well."

"He even got Marinette to bring him lunch.", said Juleka.

Alya scowled heavily. "She didn't need to! I ran into Henri in the hall! He was standing on both feet! He's only pretending to be hurt to make Ivan look worse than he already does!"

"I must admit...he is an remarkable actor.", Max remarked, drawing everyone's attention to the table with Mari and Henri.

They saw Henri pull his ankle up and rub it gently, pretending to wince every now and then, always when Marinette was looking. It was indeed quite convincing.

"Dang it, he's good.", Alya growled. "He could win an Oscar for his performance."

Kim narrowed his eyes. "If only we could make him break character..." A smirk spread across his face. "I got it."

The class watched as Kim went into his backpack and dug out some pieces of paper, and immediately went to work on folding them into little paper football. Once complete, he dashed over to where some of his fellow jocks were sitting—right next to Marinette and Henri.

"Hey, guys!", he said, catching their attention. "Let's play some football, American style!"

The jocks whooped in response.

As he sat down, his eyes met briefly with Marinette's. She quickly turned her back to him to face Henri, who's brown eyes darted back and forth between her and Kim every few moments. One of the jocks made a goalpost with his thumbs and pointer fingers. Kim waited until Henri leaned to the side to pick up a penny, leaving him in the open. Kim took aim, paper football in his fingers—and shot it into the air.

The paper missed the goalpost entirely and whizzed towards Henri at rapid speed. Swift as lightning, the brunette boy bot on his feet—both of his feet—and lunged forward, snatching the paper football before it hit him on the forehead. Marinette watched this with wide eyes, taken aback by the sudden action.

"Dude! You missed!"

Kim smirked. "Did I?"

He got up and walked over to the lovely couple at the next table with a scheming smile on his face, holding his hands behind his back as he posed with confidence.

"Gee, Henri,", he said smugly. "Your ankle seems to have healed pretty fast." He pointed to Henri's right ankle, planted firmly on the ground, drawing Marinette's attention to it.

Her bluebell eyes narrowed slightly, studying the way Henri's ankle was positioned, quite strongly and naturally, before they lifted upwards to rest upon his face. "Henri...your ankle does look fine."

Kim smirked at Henri. "Well?" Mission accomplished. Henri the Faker had been caught in the act. Now he would have to confess. Everyone waited for the new guy's response.

Without missing a beat, Henri smiled sincerely at his girlfriend. "Marinette, I'm sorry. I saw Kim's football coming your way, and I panicked. I was afraid it would hit you and give you a nasty paper cut on your pretty face. So I acted fast, even if it meant I had to hurt myself even more."

Marinette's face softened, and her eyes sparkled. "Henri...that was so brave. I can't believe you risked your injury just to save me from a paper cut."

Suddenly, Henri fell back into hos seat, moaning loudly.

Marinette grew frightened. "What is it?"

"My ankle.", he groaned, lifting it up. "Its aching all over again. Worth it, though."

He gave her one of those charming smiles, glancing momentarily at Kim's shocked face, how he was slumped forward slightly from the disbelief of the situation.

Marinette immediately spun around in her seat, and Kim jumped back a bit when he saw the dirty look on her face, not too different from the look she had given Ivan an hour ago.

"Kim, I can't believe you did that!"

"W-What?"

"Oh, please!", she sneered, getting in her feet, leaning in so that she was all up in his face. "Don't think I'm stupid! It was clear from the way you grilled him just now! You were aiming for him all along, weren't you?"

Caught in the act, Kim struggled to find the right thing to say to clear away the anger directed at him. "I-I was trying to prove to you that he was faking being hurt!"

"What?!", cried Marinette. "Why would you think he's faking?"

"Alya says she saw him standing fine in the hallway!"

Her head whipped in the auburn-haired girl's direction. "Excuse me?!"

Alya ran over to her bestie. "Girl, its true! He was standing on his own two feet, perfectly okay, and starting playing up the part of the hurt guy the moment you came back!"

Marinette stared at her blankly. The next few seconds, she didn't say a word. And it was the longest few seconds of Alya's life. Everyone held their breath, waiting for Marinette's next reaction.

At last, her face took on a tinge of hurt, mixed with resentment, as she finally spoke "Alya...why are you spreading lies about my boyfriend?"

The silence that followed that accusation was louder than if they all had been screaming and yelling. Alya could not believe what Marinette had just said to her face. She believed him. She believed Henri's lies. What was worse, she thought Alya was lying about him not really being injured. That was what hurt the most.

"Marinette...I-I'm not lying! Henri really is faking!", Alya insisted.

Marinette frowned. "Is this about the seat? I get that what he said to you crossed a line, but he realized it was wrong, and he was gonna apologize to you!"Alya gaped. "You think I'm gonna lie about his fake injury over that?! Do you really think I'm that petty?!"

Marinette crossed her arms. "You certainly think the same of me."

She turned to Kim. "As for you, mousier! How dare you act so childish! This is none of your business! Henri never did anything to you! And now you've caused him to get hurt more! You owe him an apology!"

She looked back at Alya. "You both do."

"But he's faking it!", yelled Alix, running over and gesturing towards the boy sitting there. "His ankle is perfectly fine!"

The others joined and nodded, murmuring in agreement and glaring at the new boy.

Marinette looked around at her so-called "friends" and shook her head. "I don't believe you guys. You're being total jerks. All of you. Picking on Henri like this...what has he ever done to you?"

She turned back to her boyfriend, who was playing the role of the sad victim of abuse flawlessly. "Come on. Let's sit somewhere else." She shot the class another nasty look. "The atmosphere here is no longer appealing."

The whole class watched in stunned silence as Marinette helped her boyfriend up and assisted him in walking away from them.

Rose watched them leave the area with sad, glistening puppy-dog eyes. "But he's lying..."


	7. Looming Threats

Adrien arrived back on campus from his latest photoshoot. The shoot had only lasted an hour, but to Adrien, it had felt like it had taken a whole day. His head had been spinning the entire time, thoughts and memories of Henri's deception of Ivan swirling in his mind. He could not shake the nasty feeling that tingled all over his body at the thought of the brunette boy.

As soon as he entered, he saw Marinette sitting on a bench with Henri, tending to his bandaged ankle. She looked up at her boyfriend and smiled like an angel, her bluebell eyes glittering with gentility. A flash of something unfamiliar panged through Adrien's heart, but it didn't feel like anger. It felt like...jealousy? He wanted to be in Henri's place, to be sitting with her, to have her tend to him, to look at him with that lovely smile and those glittering eyes.

"Adrien!"

He was pulled out of his confusing daze by the sound of his name on her lips. She smiled and waved him over towards her and Henri, who stared at him with a stony expression. Adrien walked over and started his role of the supportive friend. "Hey, guys! Henri, how's your ankle doing?"

"Dunno.", said the brunette boy with a shrug. "There was a...incident at lunch."

"What kind of an incident?", asked Adrien.

Marinette's eyes narrowed. "Adrien, you wouldn't believe it! Alya told the whole class that Henri was faking his ankle injury! She said she saw him standing fine in the hallway. Then, Kim deliberately threw a paper football at him to get him up on his feet!"

Adrien's stomach churned. "And...what happened?"

"Well, Henri here risked his injury to get up and catch the football, to save my face from getting a paper cut." She smiled at her boyfriend dreamily. "He was so brave."

Adrien suppressed the urge to scowl in disapproval.

"But now Henri's hurting even more, and its all because our so-called friends are acting like a bunch of immature toddlers!" Marinette folded her arms over her chest and huffed. "I mean, I know firsthand they could be nasty when they wanted to...but I didn't think they'd act like this to Henri! I mean, what do they have against him?"

Adrien's peridot-green eyes shifted back and forth between her and Henri, before finally resting on her. "Uh...Marinette? Can I talk to you? In private?"

Marinette looked a touch confused, but said, "Um...okay. I guess." She leaned over and kissed Henri gently on the cheek. "Be right back."

Adrien felt that jealous feeling sting him once more before leading Marinette away to a secluded corner where he was sure Henri couldn't hear them.

"What do you wanna talk about, Adrien?", she asked him innocently.

Adrien took a deep breath in before he spoke. "Marinette, I don't think you should trust him is blindly."

She looked a tad hurt at that statement. "What? Why not?"

Adrien grimaced before he went on. "I don't think he's all that he appears to be."

Marinette shook her head. "Adrien, why would you think that?"

Adrien looked uncomfortable. "Its just...ever since he got here, he's been giving me bad vibes. I can't put my finger on it...there's just something about him that rubs me the wrong way. I can't look at him without getting a bad feeling in my gut."

Marinette frowned. "Really? That's what your basing your judgement on? A gut feeling?"

Adrien slumped a bit in defeat. "Look, I know it sounds totally unreasonable, but...I really don't think that he's who you think he is. You have to side with me on this."

Marinette was silent for the longest time. He expected her to ask more questions, really dig deeper. Instead, she gave him a nasty look, her blue eyes narrowing.

"Adrien, why are you acting like this? Henri's never done anything. I mean, sure, he was a little nasty to Alya earlier, but he felt bad. He was gonna apologize!"

Adrien shook his head. "Marinette, I know I must sound crazy...but don't you trust me?"

Marinette's face became blank. "Adrien...I'm not saying I don't trust you. Its just...its conflicting, okay?" She lowered her gaze to the ground sadly. "Ever since Lila came along, I've been feeling really down. Everyone's been cold to me. Henri is the first good thing to happen to me since she started lying. He treats me well, he's always by my side, and he's made me feel like I'm worth something again. And now, you're telling me to not trust him, even though he's proven that he's worthy of my trust? Just because your stomach hurts when he's around?"

Adrien's heart sank. "What do you mean, he's made you feel like you're worth something again? Why would you ever think that you're not worth something?"

She raised her head, and Adrien gasped softly seeing the tears in her eyes. "Come on, Adrien. How dense are you? Haven't you noticed that everyone's been kind of distant from me lately? Haven't you wondered why that is?"

Adrien gulped, his heart in his throat. "I...I..."

Marinette sighed. "Look, Adrien, I don't wanna talk about this right now. But I will say this...Henri is so important to me. And I really want you and the others to get along. Can't you at least give him a chance? To show you what a great guy he is? I just know you'd get along great if you got to know him!"

She placed a hand on his arm. "Please? Give him a chance? For me?"

She looked at him with those bluebell so sweetly and hopefully that Adrien's heart melted, making him putty in her hands. "Alright, Marinette.", he said kindly. "If it means that much to you...I'll try to be open to him. For you."

She beamed. "Thank you, Adrien. It would be so much to me."

She glanced at the time on her phone. "Oh! Its almost time for class! I better get going. I promised Madame Bustier that I'd help set up for the presentation before the others come back."

"Presentation?"

Marinette giggled and put a finger to her lips playfully. "Don't tell."

Adrien mirrored her actions and winked. "Tell what?"

She chuckled at his goofing off, her laughter chiming like bells. It wasn't the nervous laughter that she usually had around him. It was sweet. It was real. It made him feel warm, in a way he could not recall having since the disappearance of his mother. He smiled contently at her, focusing on her dimples, on the way her freckles seemed to shine as she smiled...

"Well, I'll see you later, Adrien.", she said, brushing past him as she walked towards the classroom.

He watched her go. It was strange. Despite how much he hated Henri for framing their innocent classmates, he seemed to have cured Marinette of whatever it was that made her so nervous around Adrien. She seemed more natural around him since meeting Henri. What was up with that?

"Shooting the breeze between buddies?"

Adrien spun around to see Henri standing there. His eyes were fixated dangerously on the blond model, and his pale lips were pressed into a tense, thin line. Such a look from him sent shivers up and down Adrien's spine...until he glanced down at his feet.

Henri's right ankle was wrapped in bandages, supposed to be hurt. And yet, he now had both feet planted firmly on the ground. And he seemed perfectly as ease, not showing the least bit discomfort over the weight he was placing on his "injured" ankle. It took mere seconds for Adrien's anxiety to give way to anger.

"So Alya was right!", he shouted. "You are f—"

Before he could get another word out, Henri dove in and slammed his hand over his mouth, muffling any sounds he made, before throwing one arm tightly around the blonde and dragging him into the men's washrooms. Looking around to see if they were alone, he released Adrien, who stumbled forward, arms flailing, before whipping around to glare at his new foe.

"What's the big idea, LeRoi?! You're faking an injury to make the class look bad to Marinette?!"

Henri rolled his eyes. "Don't pin this on me, Agreste. I wouldn't have had to do it if your friends hadn't gone sticking their big fat noses where they didn't belong. I had to teach them a lesson."

"By framing them?", huffed Adrien. "You pretended Ivan pushed you down the stairs, you set up Kim, and you made it look like Alya was lying to her best friend!"

Henri smirked as he placed his hand on the edge of the sink, leaning on as as he used his free hand to make eye-catching motions as she spoke, to keep Adrien's attention on him. "Agreste, in this world, there are two types of people. There are people like you. Wusses, wimps, spineless jellyfish who allow people to walk all over them. Always giving in to every little whim, regardless of how that person may treat them. Always allowing others, good or bad, to leech off of their eagerness to please."

His eyes narrowed. "And then, there are people like me. Go-getters. Alpha dogs. The kinda person who sees something good, something valuable, something everybody wants, and goes for it. Who knows what he wants, and takes it. Who doesn't let a bunch of second-class clowns get in the way of getting what they deserve."

Adrien could feel his blood boiling. Not only did he show no qualms over trampling over his friends to get what he wanted, he also spoke of Marinette as if she were some prize to be won. The very idea made Adrien's fists tremble, the urge to punch Henri in his stupid pretty-boy face rising.

"It?! Marinette is a person! With feelings, and hopes, and dreams! She's not some shiny trophy for you to compete over!"

Henri laughed at him. "You're right. I can't compete for her. Because I've already won her over! She thinks I'm a god. Which I practically am. A girl like Marinette is the perfect match for someone of my excellence. Beauty, charisma, talent, success...we've got all those and more. She is the only one in this rat-infested sinkhole that is worthy of my presence."

Adrien glared at the brunette. "Well, I hoped you enjoyed her presence while it lasted.", he told him bitterly. "Because once I tell Marinette the truth about you, she'll drop you like a hot croissant."

Henri chuckled wickedly. "You seem pretty sure of yourself there. You already just warned her, and she brushed you off. What makes you so sure she'll take you seriously the second time around?"

"This time is different!", sneered Adrien. "I had a feeling that you were bad news the moment I saw you, LeRoi! And now I have enough to confirm that my instincts were right about you from the start!"

"Like what?", scoffed Henri, examining his fingernails nonchalantly. "You can't prove we had this conversation. Anything you tell people, I'll deny."

His brown eyes raised up to look at Adrien, and the blonde felt a chill go through him seeing the malicious look in them, the look a predator gives their prey right before they devoured them. "In fact...I'd advise you to keep your mouth shut about this to Marinette.", he said, every word from his lips dripping with venom. "Wouldn't want to spoil your beautiful friendship by telling her vicious lies about the boy she so loves."

Adrien could scarcely breathe. "What are you—"

The next thing he knew, he was being pinned against the wall, Henri's grip like iron on his shoulders, his cocoa-brown gaze turned deadly. "I'm saying if you cross me, I can turn her against you."

Adrien gasped. "You're bluffing! Marinette would never turn on me just because you told her a bunch of petty lies!" The grin on Henri's face was cruel. "You so sure about that?"

Adrien shook his head. "Marinette would never do that to me! I'm her friend!"

"Yeah? So were the others.", Henri so kindly reminded him in a mean tome of voice. "And I was easily able to convince her that they were bullying me. You don't think I could do the same to you?"

He pulled back and looked at Adrien, a hurt amd surprised expression on his face. "Why, Adrien! How could ypu accuse me of doing such a horrible thing?", he gasped, placing a hand to his heart. "And in front of my girlfriend, no less! Marinette told me you were such a nice guy." His shoulders slumped, and his lower lip quivered. "I guess she was wrong."

He turned to an imaginary Marinette, his brown eyes growing wet. "Mari, you have to believe me!", he whimpered, blinking away crocodile tears. "I would never do anything to hurt Adrien or anyone else, for that matter! I wouldn't harm a fly! You believe me, don't you? Please, Marinette, you are so important to me! I would never deceive you like that! Never!" Then he buried his face in his hands and sobbed loudly.

Adrien was stunned into silence. As much as he hated to admit it, Henri could win an award for his performance. He had even convinced Adrien that he was really was the victim in all this, if just for a split second. But as soon as he was done, he looked back up at Adrien with a nasty grin and a mean look in his eye, slipping out of the role of the innocent just as quickly as he had slipped into it, going right back to his old, awful, deceitful self.

"Trust me, Agreste.", said the brunette cooly, wiping the false tears from his eyes. "You don't wanna mess with me. I've taken out bigger threats than you. When Henri LeRoi wants something, Henri LeRoi gets something. And he keeps it. And right now, what I want to keep, is Marinette Dupain-Cheng all to myself. So stay out of my way, and I might not make her hate you."

And with that, Henri threw Adrien one last dirty look over his shoulder before he strode out confidentially, the door slamming shut behind him, leaving Adrien alone in the hollow, empty washrooms.


	8. Trapped

For thirty seconds after Henri had made his exit, Adrien felt numb. His back was pressed up against the wall as he heaved heavy breaths, feeling like all the wind had been knocked right out of him. He could hear the blood pounding in his ears. He couldn't remember going into one of the stalls, or sitting on the toilet. All he knew was that one second, he was on the wall, and the next, he was locked in, trying in vain to catch his breath, feeling as if his entire body was about to fall apart at the seams.

Plagg quickly flew out and looked at his chosen, his wide eyes, the shaky way he breathed, how he was fighting to keep it together. This was an anxiety attack if the black kwami had ever seen one. And being alive for almost all of existence, he had seen plenty.

"Kid, calm down.", he said, trying to soothe his shaken holder. No matter how many holders he went through, this part of the job never got any easier. "Its gonna be okay..."

"No, Plagg!", burst out Adrien, his eyes becoming wet. "Its not gonna be okay! He's gonna turn Marinette against me!"

"Adrien, that won't happen!", said Plagg. "You said so yourself, Marinette's your friend! She wouldn't believe some petty liar over you!" "But she doesn't know he's a liar!", Adrien reminded him. "You heard him! If he can convince her that the rest of the class is out to get him, who's to say he can't do the same to me?!"

Adrien held his head in his hands. "Plagg, what I am gonna do?! If I lose Marinette, I'll...I'll die!"

Plagg gave him a strange look.

"Okay, maybe not literally, but I'll die on the inside!"

He tried in vain to catch his breath. "How did this happen, Plagg?! How did that two-faced snake weasel his way into Marinette's heart? How did he gain so much influence over her that she believes that our whole class is out to get him?!"

Plagg looked about, seeming a tad nervous. "Well...I don't know if its just a hunch, but...something tells me its got something to do with that Lila chick."

Adrien raised his head to look at him. "Lila? What does she have to do with this?"

Plagg looked back at his holder. "She said so herself, the class has been kinda cold to her lately. I don't think you've noticed, since you've got a lot on your plate, what with dealing with akumas and keeping up with the lifestyle your dad puts you through, all while staying on top of your schoolwork so he doesn't pull you out of public school...but the other kids have been kinda distant towards her since that Rossi girl came back."

Adrien thought back carefully to the weeks at school in between Lila's return and Henri's transfer. In his mind's eye, he started to see the tension play out as the memories replayed in his head like a movie. The strained smiles, the thick air between both parties, the somewhat cold demeanor between Marinette and her friends. He had not payed it any mind at the time, because he hadn't thought it of it as anything serious. After all, this was Marinette! Their everyday Ladybug! The sweetest, kindest, most likable girl ever known! Nothing could sour her friends on her...right?

But the dots were slowly starting to connect. This would explain why Marinette was so dead-set on exposing Lila the day she came back. It wasn't just about the seat. It was about more. But if that had been true, why hadn't she told him so? Than again, they weren't that close. These thoughts haunted Adrien.

He looked back at Plagg with fear in his eyes. "Plagg...did I make a mistake? Not outing Lila?"

Plagg shook his head. "I dunno, kiddo. All I know is that, there's no way Marinette would fall under such manipulation under normal circumstances. So something wonky must be afoot. I think you should start looking closer. I don't think everything is what it seems."

Adrien stiffened. Now he felt even worse. He had only allowed Lila to continue lying because he thought her lies were doing no harm. But what if they had been? That would mean he had been letting her get away with hurting Marinette. He had allowed one of his best friends to get hurt. The very thought made him feel rotten.  
\-----------------  
When Adrien returned to class, he saw Nino sitting in his usual seat. He looked for Marinette, but she was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Henri. Probably not a good sign. As he slid behind his desk, he noticed Alya standing by the doorway, brown eyes sad as she waited.

Moments later, in came Marinette, helping Henri limp into the room. She looked up to see Alya standing there and shot her a frosty glare. Ivan and Kim ran up to stand behind Alya as she gave a sheepish look at their class representative.

"Marinette...can we talk about what happened earlier?"

Marinette quirked one brow. "That depends. Are you guys gonna apologize to Henri for what you did?"

"We didn't do anything!", cried Kim in frustration. "He's the one who faking being hurt to get you on his side!"

"Yeah!", said Ivan. "He lied about me, then Kim!"

Alya shot her friend a pleading look. "Marinette, you've gotta believe me! I would never tell lies about someone! Especially if you really liked them! I'm your best friend!"

Marinette shook her head. "I wish I could believe that, Alya."

If she had slapped Alya right in the face, the Creole girl could not have looked more shocked and wounded.

Marinette looked away, helping Henri towards the stairs. "You can have your seat back.", she said, still not looking at Alya. "Henri and I will sit in the back. Its more comfortable there, anyway. Besides, I want to sit with my boyfriend. You'd understand that, wouldn't you?"

Everyone watched sadly as Marinette helped her boyfriend up the stairs, not looking any of them in the face. She helped him into his seat and slipped off her bag, rummaging through it. While her head was turned, Henri took the opportunity to grin nastily at the class. Ivan growled loudly, causing Marinette look at him with wide eyes.

"Ivan, what are you doing?"

A whimper came from Henri, and she looked back to see him staring back at Ivan with glassy, wounded-deer eyes.

Mari whipped her head back at the taller boy and narrowed her eyes at him. "Ivan! That was so mean!"

"But...But...", Ivan stammered, unsure of what to say that could relieve the tension between him and Marinette.

Marinette turned to her boyfriend and stroked his arm to console him. "Its okay. Just ignore them. They're just being jerks."

Adrien's heart sank. With his acting skills, his charisma, and the sway he seemed to have on her, Henri was truly a promising threat to Marinette's friendships with the rest of them.


	9. Storms Ahead

The next day at school, Adrien walked into school, preparing for another day. He saw his friends in the courtyard and connected eyes with them. Nino waved him over, and he ran to join them at the table with him and the others. Marinette wasn't there yet, but then again, she was usually late.

"I wanna show you girls something.", said Rose, reaching into her purse.

She pulled out a tiny little dove sculpture of pale pink crystal, its wing spread out and catching the rays of the sun, glittering like a diamond. "Tada!"

Juleka gasped in awe. "I recognize that! Its the one from the window, isn't it? The one you've been eying for months!"

Rose beamed. "It is!" She sighed happily as she admired it's sparkling beauty. "I had to save up two months worth of allowance to afford it! But it was definitely worth—"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a hand appeared and knocked the little bird right out of her palm, sending it crashing to the hard cement floors, shattering into a thousand tiny shards.

Rose stared at the mess of glass at her feet, blue eyes doubled in size, completely paralyzed. Everyone else slowly raised their horrified gazes from the devastating scene to meet the satisfied smile of Henri LeRoi. He looked at Rose from the corner of his eye, smirking at her expression.

"Oopsie. My bad.", he said, not sounding apologetic at all. He looked at the broken pieces on the floor and clicked his tongue three times. "Gee, hope that wasn't expensive."

Juleka stood up, fuming. She looked up at Henri with fury in her auburn eyes, raising her clenched fist higher, closer to Henri's stupid smug-looking face. "Why, you no-good, two-faced little—"

"Juleka?"

She gasped, her head turning to the left to see Marinette standing in the entrance. She didn't look too pleased with what she saw. "Juleka, what are you doing?"

Juleka froze, looking like a deer caught in headlights. "I...I..."

Before she could answer, Marinette looked to see Rose fall on her knees before a bunch of shattered pinkish glass pieces, looking hopeless.

"Rose!"

She ran to her blonde friend and knelt beside her, looking back and forth between the petite girl and the scattered crystal shards at their knees. "What happened?"

"Marinette! It was an accident, I swear!"

Sure enough, Henri was back to playing the innocent one in the situation. "I guess I wasn't watching where I was going, because I tripped and bumped into Rose and it fell out of her hand!" He looked at the girl he had just hurt. "Rose, I am so, so sorry!"

Marinette looked up at him, her bluebell eyes narrowing slightly, and for a moment, the class had hope. Hope that she was seeing through this helpless act, and was realizing the truth about what had really happened. But just like Rose's precious crystal dove, that hope was shattered in seconds when she turned to Juleka and spoke.

"Wait...why was your fist near his face?"

The shy girl gulped. "Because...Because he..."

Marinette's eyes went wide, a spark of anger lighting in them. "You don't think he did this on purpose, did you?"

Juleka's heart plummeted. "I...I..."

Marinette shook her head. "Jules, this is a misunderstanding. I'm sure Henri didn't mean to do it."

That triggered Juleka. "Didn't mean to do it?! He knocked it right out of her hand! I saw!" She pointed an accusing finger at Henri, who was smart enough to look wounded at that statement.

Marinette looked shocked. "Juleka!", she gasped. "I'm surprised! I expect this kinda behavior from Kim and Alya, kind of, but you? I thought you were more mature than this!"

Juleka gaped at the class rep. "But its true! I saw him! We all did! He's bullying us!"

Marinette looked offended. "He's bullying you? Looks more to me like you're the ones bullying him!" She tsked. "I'm disappointed in you, Juleka. What would your brother say?"

Juleka gasped. "Are you gonna tell him?"

Marinette looked at the glass shards and started to pick them up gingerly, careful not to cut her fingers. "No, I'm not. I'm not a tattletale. But in the future, you should think about how Luka would react if he saw you acting this way."

If Luka was here, he'd pummel Henri into next week., thought Juleka. And she was just about to say that aloud when Rose's gentle voice stopped her before she could get a word out.

"Its fine, Marinette.", she said weakly, picking up the mess before her. "You're right. It was probably an accident. Its no big deal."

Marinette smiled sweetly. "See? Thank you, Rose, for handling this maturely. At least someone here still has their senses."

She kept her eyes on the glass she was picking up as she continued. "I'm sure Henri won't mind paying you back for what it cost."

Rose glanced up at Henri momentarily. His face told her, Don't you dare. "No.", she said, cradling the bits in her hand. "Its okay. It...didn't cost that much anyway."

"Are you sure?", asked Marinette, gently pouring the rest of the glass from her hands into Rose's.

"Yeah, its fine.", Rose wheezed out, hardly able to contain her cool as she stared hollowly at the broken shards in her palms. "Accidents...happen."

Marinette gave Juleka a stern glare. "Well, I'm glad somebody here understands it."

She got up on her feet and took Henri by the arm, leading him away from their stunned, angry and hurt classmates. Juleka looked at her distraught best friend with wide eyes.

"Rose! Why did you do that?! Why didn't you tell Marinette the truth?!"

Rose sighed, defeated, looking up at her bestie. "I saw where that was going, Julie. It wasn't worth it."

"As much as I hate to admit it, she's right.", said Max, deflating. "The odds were clearly in Henri's favor." He sighed, pushing up his glasses. "Something tells me that from now on, we're all going to have to watch our step around Mousier LeRoi."  
\-------------  
After school went out for the day, Adrien was getting ready to meet his driver when he felt a gentle tap on his shoulder. He looked over his shoulder to see Marinette's smiling face. "Hi. Sorry to bother you. I wanted to ask you a favor."

He turned the rest of his body to face her. "A favor? Why don't you ask Alya?"

Marinette's sweet smile turned into a sour pout. "Yeah, I'm not really talking to her at the moment. She still hasn't apologized for lying about Henri. So, you're my next choice."

Adrien winced, very slightly, enough so that it went unnoticed by Marinette. Henri's earlier threat echoed in his head. He smiled through his dark thoughts about destroying the brunette.

"Well, okay then.", he said, as calmly as he could. "What do you need me for?"

Marinette's smile, with all it's sunshine and warmth, returned in full force. "I'm glad you said yes!"

She went on. "So, tonight is a pretty big night. Henri is taking me on our very first official date!" Oh. That was like a punch to the gut. "I made a new dress, just for the occasion. I was hoping you could come over and I could model it for you. You know, so I could get your opinion on it. It would be nice, get a fellow man's perspective."

Hoo boy. She wanted him to help her impress Henri for their first date. She had really put Adrien on the spot. The blonde model could think of a million different things he would rather do. Like wax himself with duct tape. Or get pummeled by an akuma. Or go on a romantic, intimate stroll with Lila.

But Marinette was still his friend. She needed him. And he really did want to help her. He liked her. A lot. Surely, he could spare her an hour or two? Besides, with big boy LeRoi around, Adrien knew the stakes were high. If he wanted to keep himself in Mari's good graces with someone like Henri out to to ruin their friendship, he would have to go the extra mile.

"Sure, I'll come over.", he told her. "I'll just text my father that Chloe took me to her father's hotel for a visit. And I'll tell Chloe everything. I'm sure she'd be willing to cover for me."

He pulled out his phone and texted both contacts. Once he finished, he slipped the phone back into his shirt pocket. "Its done."

"Great! I'll just grab some stuff from my locker. Meet you back here in a sec."

She ran past him towards the locker room. Adrien moved his head to watch her go. When he turned his head back to it's usual position, he jumped in surprise. There was the devil himself, Henri LeRoi, leaning against the wall before him and giving the other boy a dirty look.

"Um, what did I just see?", he said, dark undertones in his voice. "Did what I say yesterday not register in your bite-sized brain, Agreste?"

Adrien huffed. "Henri, its not what you think.", he said calmly. Best not to escalate the situation, not with Marinette coming back at any second. Henri had a knack for turning the situation on those who opposed. "She's just inviting me over so I can give her an opinion on an outfit she made for your date tonight."

Henri didn't look like he was buying it, but he nodded and said, "Alright...I'll let it slide. This time." He stepped into Adrien's personal bubble and pointed a finger at Adrien's face, hovering mere inches from his nose. "But I'm watching you. And if I see anything shifty happening between you and MY woman, you're gonna be sorry. You hear me, pretty boy?"

Was he trying to scare Adrien? If he was, he was doing a pretty good job. Adrien was terrified. Not by Henri's dark tone and the way he held himself, like he was one step away from murder, but by the thought of losing Marinette. Adrien was sorely tempted to go all Claws Out on the boy, but he couldn't. So, he had no choice but to fight his Chat Noir urges as Henri turned and walked away, unscathed.  
\--------------  
Adrien sat on the sofa in the Dupain-Cheng household, jiggling his leg in anticipation. Marinette was upstairs, changing into her handmade dress for tonight. Adrien anxiously awaited her debut. Meanwhile, Tom was in the kitchen, arranging some fresh-baked cookies on a tray in a tasteful, eye-catching display to attract new customers.

He walked into the living room and offered Adrien a spare, which he gladly accepted. "Merci, Mousier Dupain."

"Adrien, I've told you before. Call me Tom."

Adrien smiled. "I missed coming here. Its so warm and comforting...not like my home."

"You're always welcome here, Adrien.", said Tom. "You're one of my daughter's closest friends. Even more so since..." He trailed off.

Adrien stiffened. He thought back to Plagg's theory from the previous day. If Lila had been stirring up more serious trouble than Adrien had first thought, Marinette may not have trusted him enough to tell him. But perhaps she had told her parents. Only one way to find out.

He cleared his throat and looked at Tom. "Since...Lila came back to class?"

Tom looked at him with wide eyes. "Yes! You've noticed?"

Adrien gulped. "Honestly...not at first. Its just...my father always keeps me going from one place to another. Photoshoots, publicity events, private lessons, fencing team...and if I don't keep my grades up, I risk getting pulled out of school. I can barely focus on myself. But...I've thought back to it lately, and...I'm seeing it."

Tom sucked in his lips. "That's...understandable. It does sound like you've got a lot on your plate. I guess I can see how it would take you a while to notice...certain things."

Adrien pressed his lips into a thin line, before daring to dig deeper. "Tom?"

The baker man looked at him.

Adrien stared strongly at him, eyes serious. "Marinette wouldn't have told you...why everyone's acting this way? Because...because if she knows...she didn't tell me."

Tom looked surprised. "She didn't tell you?"

Adrien shrugged and looked at the cookie in his hand. "I mean, I know we're not that close and all, but...I would have liked to have thought that if it were something serious...she would have confided in me."

He looked back at Tom, whose thick eyebrows were raised high. They knitted together as he asked, "Adrien...just how much did Marinette tell you about Lila?"

Adrien bit his lip. "Well, I left school for lunch, and when I came back after the Chameleon episode, I told Marinette that I knew about Lila being a hot liar. She said we should tell everyone, but I said that was a bad idea and convinced her to let it go. You know, because Lila is obviously weak. She's emotionally unstable. Being outed would just make her mad and then she'd get akumatized again. And besides, all she was doing was making up stories to break the ice, right? Nothing bad. Just fantasy stories about princes and stuff..." His eyes were glassy as he looked at Tom. "Unless...she told you more?"

Before Tom could answer, Marinette's voice came from the stairs. "I'm ready!" Seconds later, she stepped into the room, and Adrien completely forgot what they had been talking about.

Marinette now stood before him, in the most stunning ladybug-red dress. The material was smooth and shiny, much like silk. The spaghetti straps clung to the sweetheart neckline, showing just the right amount of cleavage. A silk rose speckled with a touch of glitter sat at her waist.

She did a spin for them, showing how the long, knee-length skirt swirled around her gracefully. "So...what do you think?"

"Macaroon! You look beautiful!", said Tom, clapping his hands.

"Thanks, dad, but I was asking Adrien." She looked at the blond boy hopefully. "Well?"

Adrien gaped at Marinette, all dolled up like that. He had no words, no thoughts. In that moment, there was no Henri. There was no Lila. There wasn't even Ladybug. There was just Marinette. Kind, attentive, beautiful Marinette.

"Adrien?"

He snapped out of his trance. "Oh! Oh, I agree with your dad, Marinette! You...You look amazing."

She beamed like the moon. "Thanks! I hope Henri feels the same way."

Adrien's mood fell faster than a soufflé at the mention of the other guy. "Right...Henri..."

His somber tone did not go unnoticed by Mari. "Why did you say his name like that?"

Adrien grimaced. Slip-up. "You know what? I'd better go before he gets here."

He started to gather his things, much to Marinette's irritation. Not only was he ignoring her question about Henri, now he was avoiding him? "Why?"

"I, uh...I don't want him to get the wrong idea. About me being here."

Marinette crossed her arms. "Why would he get the wrong idea?"

Adrien just shrugged. "I dunno...me here...giving you advice on your clothes, how pretty you are...it could be interpreted the wrong way."

Marinette's glossed lips twisted into a pout. "Henri's not like that, Adrien. You shouldn't say he'll jump to conclusions, when you're the one doing all the jumping. You hardly even know Henri."

The memory of Henri's menacing face all up in his own flashed through Adrien's mind. "Maybe I know more about him than you think."

He didn't wait to hear Marinette's reaction. He just grabbed his things and walked out of the bakery, not glancing back once.


	10. Clouds Rolling In

Marinette sighed in content as she rested her head on Henri's shoulder. This had been the best night ever. Henri had made certain to make her very first date ever one to remember for all the right reasons. Being picked up in his expensive car, that he'd gotten for his last birthday from his rich parents, candlelit dinner at one of the most exclusive restaurants in Paris, for which he payed for everything, all topped off with a romantic moonlight stroll.

They sat on a park bench now, their heads resting against each other, just enjoying each other's presence. "Oh, Henri...you really know how to make a girl feel like a princess.", she remarked. "Tonight has been just magical. I don't care what Adrien says, you're the real deal."

"What Adrien says?" Her eyes snapped open in fright. Oops. She lifted her head off his shoulder and fiddled with her hair, which now hung in loose curls around her shoulders.

"Adrien...said some things...but I didn't believe them. Its not important." She looked back at Henri, hoping he'd drop it and go back to canoodling, but he looked worried. Marinette sighed. The moment was gone. "Henri, its fine. I know he's wrong about you. And he'll see it, too, eventually."

"I don't know, Maribelle.", sighed Henri. "Its just...I've been going to your school for how long now? You'd think he would have warmed up to me by now. But he stills treats me like I'm radioactive. He looks at me funny, and he avoids me like I have some sorta deadly contagious disease. Why do you think that is?" Marinette searched her mind and heart for an answer, but could find none.

Henri inched closer to his girlfriend. "Look...I didn't wanna say anything to you before...because you told me to lay off the smack talk about your friends...but I don't think Adrien is everything you think he is. You say he's this sweet, gentle guy who wouldn't hurt a fly, who cares deeply about his friends, but I haven't seen it. Is it...is it possible you're just projecting what you want to see on him because he was your first love?"

Marinette was silent. Henri continued. "I mean, I'm talking about that high road he wanted to take with Lila."

Marinette looked back. "Henri, I told you, he doesn't know she threatened me!"

Henri shook his head. "I'm not talking about you, Marinette. I'm talking about everybody else."

She blinked twice. "What about everybody else?"

"I mean, didn't Lila promise Nino she'd hook him up with Steven Spielberg?", he went on. "Now, we that's not gonna happen. I know it, you know it...Adrien knows it. But Nino doesn't know it. And isn't he supposed to be Adrien's best friend? Than why is he letting him get all excited for something that'll never come to light?"

"Its not that simple.", said Marinette. "Nino's proven he doesn't trust one person's word, even if he's close with them."

"I'm not saying Nino would believe him.", said Henri. "But if Adrien really cares about his "best friend", wouldn't he at least try to warn him, so that he doesn't get his hopes up?" Marinette went dead silent staring at her bare knees, peeking out from under the hem of her dress.

"And another thing,", said Henri. "Adrien subscribes to your friend's blog, right? The Ladyblog?" 

Marinette nodded. "So he knows what goes on it?" 

She nodded again.

Henri sucked in his lips. "So, what I'm wondering is...if he knows that Lila is a big fat liar...why did he not warn Alya about that interview about her being Ladybug's best friend?"

Marinette went pale.

Henri looked away, pretending to picture the scenario he was describing. "I mean, posting a bogus story like that could really damage the blog's credibility when the truth comes out. It'll lose subscribers...get labeled a tabloid...it could even ruin Alya's dreams of becoming a real reporter. I mean, who's gonna trust or hire a reporter who writes fake stories centered around some wannabe lying about being BFFs with a celeb?"

With every word, Marinette's heart sunk lower and lower. "Well...its partly on her. She didn't check her sources."

"But Adrien is a source!", Henri reminded her. "He knows Lila's bluffing! So why isn't he saying anything? If Alya was really his friend, why is he letting her keep that video on her blog when it can ruin her reputation as a reporter?"

Henri looked up. "And what about the poor teacher? Madame Bustier is giving Lila privileges—extensions on schoolwork, excuses from class whenever, moving the entire seating of the class to accommodate her—all because she thinks Lila is disabled. Lila is taking advantage of her blind trust to get special treatment. What do you think's gonna happen when the truth comes out, that this teacher was giving a student special treatment without solid evidence? Madame Bustier could get put on prohibition...or even fired! Shouldn't Adrien at least hint or ask if Lila has a doctor's note, if just to save his teacher's job?"

Marinette fidgeted. She struggled to find the right words. "I think Adrien is...afraid. To hurt anyone. He had a pretty lonely childhood. I don't think he wants to be responsible for anyone else's loneliness. He doesn't want to put anyone through that." "I dunno, Marinette.", said Henri. "It looks more to me like he's controlling the situation to suit his own needs."

Marinette gaped at him at that remark. "Controlling the situation?"

Henri looked at her, eyes boring into hers. "Think about it. Out of everyone in the school, he's the one who is least affected by Lila's lies. He's not getting his hopes up for things that will never happen, he's not in danger of losing his job, and he's definitely not being bullied by her. Maybe the reason he's okay with letting Lila get away with everything because its not making any trouble for him."

Henri leaned in. "You said he stopped you from exposing Lila on her first day back. He told you her lies weren't hurting anyone, even though he was aware of the effects those lies could have on Nino and Alya and Madame Bustier. He told you that exposing her would just make things worse, but maybe the real reason he stopped you was because he didn't you to change the situation. He wants to control the situation, keep things in a way where everything is just fine for him, even if its not for everyone else. And if you nipped that in the bud, than the new situation might not cushion him as nicely as the old one."

Marinette stayed quiet. Henri took advantage of this to drill into her head more. "I mean...it makes sense. Isn't this the guy who's always making excuses for Chloe, even though she's nasty to literally everyone but him?"

Marinette looked back up, her eyes steely. "That's different!"

Henri looked at her funny. "Different how?"

Marinette's face was determined. "Chloe was his only friend for years. He's the only one she's ever really nice. I think deep down, he knows she's not a good person, but he's in denial. He's holding onto nostalgic fantasies, and that's why he's always making excuses for her. He just doesn't want to believe that his oldest friend is toxic."

Now it was Henri's turn to be quiet. Marinette bit her lip, waiting fir him to reply, every second that ticked by feeling like agony. Finally, he stroked his chiseled chin, pursed his lips, and said in a calm voice, "Interesting...you think that's what you're doing?"

Marinette blinked a few times in surprise, his response taking her off-guard. "Wh-What? What do you mean?"

"Your friends...they haven't been loyal to you lately.", said Henri, looking up at the night sky. "You've done so much for them, and in return, they ice you out for the new girl who spills pretty words. And yet, even though they ignore and scoff at you, despite the fact that you've given them everything, you still insist that its not their fault, that Lila's completely to blame for THEIR behavior, not the classmates themselves."

He looked back at her. "But...I don't think it is. All Lila's fault, I mean. I mean, sure, she's the one telling the lies, but they're the ones who choose to listen. They're the ones who choose to believe whatever she says. They're the ones who choose to trust her word over yours, even though you're the one who's proven yourself to be trustworthy. So...is it possible that you're just making excuses for them?"

Marinette was silent, deep in thought, mulling over his words and her own. Henri went on. "Marinette...I think deep down, you know that your friends are responsible for their own behavior. Just like Adrien knows deep down that Chloe can't change for the better. But like he's denial about her, you're in denial about your friends. Your good memories of them is clouding your better judgement, keeping you from acknowledging the fact that they're not really good people."

Marinette was dead silent, her face as gray as ash. His words were swirling around in her head, growing louder and louder. Henri saw her grave expression and broke the silence. "Oh...Mari, I'm sorry. I-I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry, I totally ruined our first date. Just...Just forget what I said. I'm sure you're right, they're not entirely at fault."

Marinette didn't respond. Henri sighed. "You know what? I think the fun has gone sour. Let me take you home."

She nodded, still trying to gather her thoughts.  
\----------------  
After he dropped her off, Henri picked up his phone and scrolled to the desired contact. He shot her a text.

Phase 2 is done.

Seconds later, he got a reply.

Good. Meet me in front of the Agreste mansion in an hour. There's some1 u need 2 meet.


	11. Partnerships in the Night

Marinette got out of the shower, drying her hair with a towel. She sat on her bed in her fluffy pink bathrobe and caught a glimpse of the framed photograph on her nightstand. It was her with Alya, Nino and Adrien, hanging out on the bridge above the Seine. They were beaming happily, blissfully unaware of the trials that awaited them in the near future.

Tikki noticed her chosen's sad, wistful stare at the picture. "Still thinking about what Henri said?"

Marinette nodded with a sigh. "I just...I hate to admit it, but what he said makes sense. What if he's right? What if I am making excuses for them out of nostalgia?"

Tikki fidgeted. She didn't want to tell Marinette that something about Henri felt...off to her. She couldn't place her finger on it, but it was there. It was in the way he walked, the way he talked, the way he smiled. But he made Marinette so bright and happy, she couldn't bring herself to destroy that, especially since she didn't have any specifics.

Marinette got up. "Whatever, I think I'll just sleep on it." She went to get her pajamas and turn in for the night.  
\------------------  
"So...you're the infamous Hawkmoth."

Gabriel nodded. He and Lila stood in his lair, with Henri, have welcomed him into their circle. The brunette boy cocked a brow. "So...why do want me here?"

"We all want the same thing, LeRoi.", said Lila with a smirk. "We all want the class to be miserable. He wants them miserable so he can akumatize them. I want them miserable so I can turn them into my followers. And you want them miserable...just because."

"Before you came along,", explained Gabriel. "The plan was to turn the class against Marinette Dupain-Cheng, then set scarlet akumas on the rest of them when they're feeling betrayed. Miss Dupain-Cheng is a good leader. That way, she'd be so full of anger she could lead the akumas to victory against Ladybug and Chat Noir." He smirked. "However...you've given me a better idea."

Henri smirked back. "I'm listening..."

"Marinette is the most beloved girl in that class.", said Gabriel. "She is their hero. Their savior. They adore her. They treasure her." He grinned like a vicious predator. "Well...what could devastate them more than to have their Everyday Ladybug turned against them? To have the one they love and cherish most sever her ties with them?"

Lila snickered. "They'll be totally destroyed."

"And Marinette herself will be, too, if she thinks that the people she once called her friends, for whom she stood up and sacrificed, were truly nothing but liars and bullies the whole time.", said Gabriel. "They'll all be easy prey for my akumas."

Henri looked at them both funny. "What's in it for me?"

Lila sputtered. "What?! You get Marinette all to yourself! Just like you wanted!"

Henri rolled his eyes. "Please. That's mine to take, not yours to give."

Gabriel examined him with a stern pout. This boy was confident that he could succeed in claiming Marinette entirely without any outside help. And, as much as Gabriel didn't want to admit it, he definitely could. He had been watching Henri. He'd barely been around Marinette for a month, and he had made significant progress breaking her down towards her classmates. He was good. That's why Hawkmoth and Lila wanted him on their team.

"What do you want?", asked Gabriel.

Henri smirked. "A modeling contract. Just like Lila. And whenever Marinette submits winning designs to your company, which she will, I get to model them instead of Adrien."

Gabriel nodded. "Deal."

Henri smiled. "Have to warn you, though...Adrien might get some backlash. I think he's got a thing for my Maribelle."

Lila rolled her eyes. "Even if he does, he's gonna be mine, one way or another."

Gabriel nodded. "Don't worry about Adrien. He might go through some hardship, but its all to get his mother back. Once our mission succeeds, he won't give two needle pricks about Miss Dupain-Cheng. He'll be completely happy for the rest of his days."

He held out his hand to Henri. "We are in agreement?"

Henri smirked as he accepted the handshake. "We are."  
\---------------  
Marinette was climbing into bed when her phone pinged. Henri's name appeared on the screen.

Good night & sweet dreams, my beautiful girl.

Marinette smiled softly. She texted him back.

Sweet dreams, mon cher.

She laid her head down, blissfully ignorant of what Henri had in store for her and her friends.


	12. Red Alert

The boys of Madame Bustier's class walked down the hallway, shooting the breeze like buddies did, happy and carefree, as they should be.

"Well, well, well..."

And just like that, that happy, carefree mood flew right out the window. Henri LeRoi peeked out from behind his locker door, smirking devilishly at his fellow male students. "Look like its time for backpack inspection!"

Max shook his head. "No! Not backpack inspection! Anything but that!" He clutched his own bookbag to his chest as if it were his own child. Thankfully, fortune seemed to smile upon him today, as Henri dove in and snatched Nathaniel's bag off his shoulder. The redhead reached to grab it back, but Henri held it out of his reach. The taller boy unzipped it and peeked inside.

"Hmm...looks good...but its missing something." He looked up. "I know!" He reached into his locker and took out an old sandwich, covered in slimy green mold, and dropped it into Nate's backpack, never once breaking eye contact between him and his prey. "There we go!"

"A moldy sandwich?", remarked Nathaniel in a shaky voice, trying to sound brave in face of the bully. "You're slipping, Henri." Henri looked back at the backpack, then at the other boys, and smirked.

"You're right." Keeping the smirk on his face, he took out a cherry-red slushie, popped the cover off with a strong flick of his thumb, and poured the wet, colorful slush into Nathaniel's backpack, all while the poor boy and his friends watched helplessly with wide, horrified eyes. As if that weren't enough, he then zipped the bag closed again and shook it like a cocktail shaker.

He threw the backpack back to Nate, smiling at the boy's defeated look, the slump of his shoulders, the glassy look in his eyes. "Backpack's ship-shape. All in a day's work. You're welcome." And he strutted off like a proud peacock, leaving his enemies in the dust.

Nathaniel looked as if he was about to cry. "I put my sketchbook in here..."

Ivan sighed. "I told you to put it in your locker."

It had been a solid month since Henri had first made his threat to Adrien and the class, and he seemed to be following through on it quite well. He was determined to make their lives a living hell, and he had proved to be worse than Chloe in that regards. He vandalized their belongings, jabbed them with cruel words, and even beat them physically sometimes, when they were alone.

The worst part was, there was nothing they could do about it. If they tried to fight back, or tell a teacher, Henri would go to Marinette, crocodile tears in his eyes, and claim that they were the ones who had hurt him. Of course, Marinette confronted the accused classmate every time this happened. Then she would give them the cold shoulder for days. The class soon fond out that there was no worse feeling in the world than the feeling you got from having your Everyday Ladybug raise her voice to you, scold you, call you a bully, all for something you didn't do.

As much as Adrien hadn't wanted to believe it, Henri had been right. Marinette was wrapped completely around his finger. She took his side every time. It terrified Adrien. He was scared to try to confront Henri, or try to warn Marinette. What if he tried to turn the situation on him, just like he had with all the others? He couldn't risk that. He couldn't risk losing Marinette. He just couldn't. He had to find a way to expose Henri, but until he figured something out, all he could do was roll over and hope Henri had mercy.

He sighed as he walked into the classroom, mentally preparing himself for another long day of Henri.

"Hi, Adrien."

He looked up to see a certain sausage-haired liar sitting in the seat next to his, fluttering her eyelashes at him. "I'm back! Did you miss me?"

Adrien groaned, making no effort to hide his displeasure. Great. Just when he thought life at school couldn't get much worse.  
\------------------  
Alya sat next to Lila at lunch, smiling sincerely for the first time in a while. "Girl, you gave no idea how much I missed you here! Ever since Big Boy LeRoi started playing victim, Marinette barely talks to me! She actually thinks I'm the one spreading lies about her boyfriend, not the other way around!"

"She actually thinks we're bullying Henri,", Nino told her as the others crowded around Lila's table. "Can you believe that?"

"Actually, I can."

"What?!"

Lila put on her sweetest face, with a touch of sympathy added, like a true friend addressing their distressed companion. "People will believe what they want to believe. Ever since I came back from Achu, things have been building up between you, me and the class, and her. Then Henri comes along and immediately picks her over me and everyone else. Clearly, Marinette is so touched that he's on her side, that she's deluded herself into thinking that he can do no wrong, because he's the only one who chose her over me."

Alya, Nino and the others all deflated as Lila's words sank in. As awful as it was to admit, she had a strong point. Things had been tense between Marinette and her friends since Lila had returned to school. It had been a balancing act keeping their friendship with her, trying to soften or ignore her catty remarks or dirty looks, while still keeping things friendly with their Italian classmate.

But Henri wasn't trying to have the best of both worlds. He had chosen Marinette, plain and simple. And since he was the only one who had given her their full loyalty, Marinette was returning the favor by giving him hers, along with her full trust.

A laugh that sounded like tinkling bells came from the entrance. All heads shot up to see their class representative walk in with the bane of their existence, hugging his arm as they walked in for lunch. Her eyes were warm with affection when she looked up at him, but when she turned to look where she was going and saw all her friends gathered around Lila, those same eyes became as cold as ice.

Everyone except the liar winced under her harsh stare. She turned her head away to look straight ahead, and that's when Henri shot them a nasty smirk that seemed to say suck it, losers. Just one look made each and every one of them feel like trash. So caught up in their own self-pity, they did not notice the smug little smirk on Lila's face that was identical to Henri's.

Oh, thought Lila. Things were better than she had hoped. For her and and Henri at least.

Henri sat down at a table when Marinette went to get them lunch. She left her things with him, trusting him with them. Alya watched her skip to the lunch line to get food for her and her "darling" Henri. But when the Creole girl looked back, her heart dropped.

Henri had Marinette's phone in his hand, holding it so that the screen faced him. And judging from how his finger was swiping across said screen, he wasn't just holding on to it for her.

Alya didn't wait to tell her friends her next move. She simply jumped to her feet and made a b-line for the phone swiper. She stopped at the table, standing on the other side from where he sat, hands placed defiantly on her hips, her eyes burning at his head, and waited for him to notice her. Eventually, Henri seemed to get the feeling of a scorching glare on him, and lifted his head to look at her.

His eyes scanned her angry pose up and down before he quirked a brow at her. "May I help you?"

"What do you think you're doing?", asked Alya, her tone packed with heat but at the same time cold and harsh, as she pointed at the device in his hand.

"This?", asked Henri, holding up the phone.

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure that's not your phone."

"Relax, Césaire.", said Henri, shrugging it off like it was nothing. "I'm just checking her messages and emails while she's gone."

Alya's eyes doubled in size. "Checking her...that's a total invasion of her privacy!"

"She's my girlfriend."

"That doesn't make her your property!"

"Doesn't it?"

Oh, if Alya hadn't already hated Henri before, she definitely did now.

"Alya?"

Marinette stood there with two lunch trays, giving her best friend a frosty look. "I hope you came over here to aplogize to Henri, and not spread more lies about him."

Alya pointed at the boy sitting by them. "Marinette, he's looking through your texts and emails!"

Marinette blinked. "I can see that."

Alya's jaw hung open. "Pardon?"

Nino popped up next to the two friends, gaping at Marinette like a fish. "The dude peeks at your personal messages...and you're totally cool with it?!"

"He's just looking out for me because he cares."

"No, Marinette, trying to warn you off bad decisions and people is looking out for you. Scrolling through your private messages...that's being a creep."

"Lot of messages...you're pretty popular, ain't cha?", said Henri, drawing the attention back to him.

Alya gestured towards him with an angry look at Marinette that said "Girl, how can you think this is okay?!"

Without warning, Nino dove in and pressed the power button on Mari's phone, making the screen go dark.

"Nino!"

"Oops, sorry dude. My hand slipped." He shrugged with false apology.

Oddly enough, Henri didn't seemed annoyed. "S'cool. Good thing I know her passcode."

Alya made a sound of shock and dissaproval as she looked at her bluenette friend. "He knows your passcode?! Girl, I don't know your passcode!"

"Henri's my boyfriend. I trust him."

"Its not a matter of trust, Marinette! Its a matter of privacy!", exclaimed Alya, growing more frustrated with every word. How was she not getting this? "This isn't healthy! You don't just go into other people's phone and read their personal messages and try to pass it off as caring, no matter how close you are or how much you trust them!"

"She's right, Marinette.", chimed in Nino. "I'm Alya's boyfriend, but you don't see me going through her texts. I mean, would you go through Henri's texts?"

Marinette faltered. "Oh, well...Henri doesn't let me use his phone. Not yet."

This realky got Alya and Nino. "WHAT?!"

"So you trust LeRoi enough to go through your stuff and use your passcode to get into your phone, but you're not given the same from him?! How is that healthy?! How are you okay with all this?!"

Marinette glared at her "friends". "Do me a favor! Focus on your own relationship, and keep your noses out of mine!" She slammed the lunch trays onto the table and sat across from Henri, her back facing the couple.

Nino looked like a kicked puppy, while Alya glared daggers at Henri, who ignored her, still scrolling through Marinette's phone.

Adrien stood by, not with Lila and the others, but by the stairs by himself, having witnessed everything as it unfolded.

"Oh, man...now I'm really worried, Plagg.", he said to the kwami hiding in his jacket. "Bullying the class and lying about it is one thing...but to invade her privacy and frame it as "caring" is something else entirely."

"You're right.", agreed the little god. "That's like, the number one red flag of a toxic relationship. This is bad. This is really bad."


	13. Con Artist

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A special gift! For those of you on tumblr, I posted a drawing I did of Henri! I’m not that good at drawing people, but I like to think I’m better than some, even for stick figures. If any of you want to draw him or any scenes from my fic, that would mean so much to me! Just send me the link & give me credit!

Marinette huffed as she entered the woman's bathroom. She couldn't believe the nerve Alya and Nino had. Instead of apologizing to Henri, they tried to take blame off themselves by painting him as a jerk, to make what they did seem less bad than it was, like he deserved it.

Afterwards, she flushed and exited the stall to was her hands. As the water ran over her hands, a nasty voice jerked her out of her thoughts.

"I saw what happened back there." She looked up at the bathroom mirror. In it's reflection, she could see Lila Rossi leaning back against the stall doors behind her, her arms folded over her chest. "Wow...they really have it out for your boyfriend, don't they?"

Marinette scowled, not bothering to turn around to face her, only meeting her eyes in the mirror. "Buzz off, Lila. I'm not in the mood to deal with you."

"After that little scene? I'm not surprised.", said Lila, shrugging her shoulders. "Must be awful for Henri. Everyone ganging up on him...but I don't think I need to tell you that. You know firsthand, don't you?"

Marinette was silent as she lathered her hands.

Lila smirked. "Seriously, Marinette...I don't know why you still bother with those guys."

"They're my friends."

"Are they? Are they really?"

Marinette finally spun around to shoot Lila a dirty look. "Since when are you so concerned with how people treat me and my boyfriend?! It's your fault, anyway! All my friends have been acting differently ever since you came back and started manipulating them! You changed them!"

The smile slipped off Lila's face, and her stare turned deadly. "Did I, Marinette? Did I change your friends? Or did I just bring out their real selves?"

Marinette's bluebell eyes narrowed at her enemy. "What?"

Lila sashayed to the sink next to her, her victim's eyes following her. "I've been to a lot of schools, Marinette.", she said smoothly, turning on the faucet. "That's what happens when your mom works as a diplomat. I've pulled the same con at every one. And every school I've been to has someone like you there. Someone who sees through my lies and tries to call me out.

"So naturally, I have to discredit them to save my reputation. Spread rumors about them, poison people's minds against them, frame them for stealing, cheating or lying, until they're totally alone. Some crowds are harder than others. Some take weeks, maybe months to turn against my enemy."

Lila chuckled like a supervillain as she washed her hands. "But this school...everyone jumped on the 'Marinette is a bully' bandwagon the second I pulled it out front. All it took was a few promises of celeb connections and crocodile tears, and the whole class turned on you like a pack of rabid wolves!"

She turned off the water and shook the wetness from her hands. "It was just too easy...way easier than any other crowds I've worked with. Usually, I have to sweat and toil and dream up some real nasty lies to separate people from their friends. But with your friends, I hardly had to lift a finger."

She took a paper towel and dried her hands off. "Think about it, Marinette. I've been to a dozen schools, turned at least fifty people against their friends...and your classmates were my easiest and fastest job! What does that tell you about them? About their sense of loyalty?"

Marinette was dead silent, staring at Lila hollowly. The Italian girl smiled deviously as she threw the paper into the waste bin. "Face it, Marinette. The problem isn't that I've changed your friends."

She walked over to her and spoke into her ear. "It's that after all this time...they've finally shown you their true colors."

And with that, Lila strutted out the bathroom, leaving Marinette alone in the empty washrooms, her words echoing in her mind.  
—————————-  
Arts club was so-so. Everyone minded their own projects. Alix graffitied her wall, Marc and Nathaniel worked on their comic book, Rose and Juleka dreamt up lyrics for Kitty Section's next big hit, and Marinette, of course, was sketching some new fashion designs, with Henri looking over her shoulder. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Just then, who should walk in but Alya and Lila. Everyone greeted them friendly, except for Marinette and Henri. They just watched the two enter the room, stare at them with blank faces, then look back at what they were doing.

Ever since Lila's confrontation in the bathroom, her words had been playing over and over in Marinette's head like a song on repeat. Her mind kept wandering back to Henri's talk after their first date. Their words were consuming.

"Looking good, Maribelle.", said Henri.

"Me, or the designs?"

"Who said it had to be one or the other?"

She giggled, and everyone else in the room rolled their eyes.

Alix went to get something on the other side of the room, another can of spray paint. As she was walking back to her wall, can in hand, finger ready on the nozzle, Henri made sure Marinette was focused on her designs, then stuck his leg out just as Alix passed by.

The pink-haired girl stumbled forth, the finger on the top of the can pressing down. A burst of neon green sprayed in front of her as she fell, falling on Alya, who was standing there. The Creole girl screamed as a coat of bright paint covered her orange plaid shirt and her jeans and sneakers.

Alix gaped at Alya in horror as she scrambled to her knees. She looked behind her, back at Marinette and Henri, just in time to see him retract his leg.

Alya caught him, too, and her face turned red. "What the hell, LeRoi?!"

Henri looked at her with innocent doe eyes. "What?"

"Don't pull the innocent act! You did that on purpose!"

Henri looked wounded. "What did I do? It wasn't my fault you weren't looking where you were going!"

"No, but it IS your fault that you tripped me!"

"Alix!", Marinette cried, angry and hurt.

"Marinette, I saw his foot!", Alya insisted.

"Not this again, Alya! Why do you keep trying to make Henri look bad?! What did he ever do to you?"

Alya's eyes narrowed behind her glasses. "You mean besides last week, when my phone mysteriously appeared in a toilet in the boys' bathroom?"

"Or when my clothes subtly vanished from my locker while I was in the shower, and I had to walk through the whole school in nothing but a towel to get help?", chimed in Max.

"Or when an anonymous user on Youtube posted that video of me falling off the stage in to the orchestra pit during our class play?", added Mylène bitterly. "It got six hundred likes!"

"How do you know Henri did all those things?"

"Because he said so to our faces! And even if he didn't, it's exactly the kind of thing he would do!"

Marinette slammed her sketchbook shut and stood up. "I am not about to go through this again!" She took Henri by the hand and pulled him to his feet. "Come on, Sugar-Bear. Let's get out of here. The environment here is too hostile." And with that, she pulled her boyfriend out of the room. Henri looked behind him and shot their classmates a nasty smile before he disappeared in the doorway.

Defeated and dejected, all creative energy and artistic inspiration gone from their bodies, the class decided to pack it in and just go home. Alya stood in the front of the room as her friends filed out one by one, hanging their heads, unable to ignore the anger boiling up inside of her.

"I cannot believe Marinette!", she screamed, storming over to kick some empty paint cans, trying to let it out.

Lila put on her sweetest angel face to talk to her. "You definitely weren't kidding when you said she was under his spell. Poor girl really is wrapped around his finger."

"I just don't know what is the matter with her!", shouted Alya. "Ever since you got back from Achu, she's been totally bonkers! I mean, she's always been kinda bonkers, but this is a whole new level!"

"Oh, no! You don't think I'm to blame for this, do you?" Lila's green eyes were glossed over with false sadness.

Alya softened a bit as she looked at her. "No...no, none of this is your fault." Her face hardened again, tight with rage. "It's Henri's fault! Spreading lies about us! And the worst part is, Marinette is defending him by claiming we did the same thing, that we're hypocrites!"

"Yeah, right! If anyone's a hypocrite, it's Marinette! She attacks you without reason or evidence, even though you've never done anything to her, and whines that we don't automatically take her side, and then she goes and blindly believes every word Henri says and snaps at us for getting on his case about it, using us not believing her about you to defend him!"

"Well, guess what, Marinette! This is exactly why we didn't believe you about Lila! Any guy she gets a crush on, she puts up on a pedestal and blatantly overlook any flaw he has! She goes nuts trying to get closer to him, and gets jealous when another girl even looks in his direction! She lets her crush consume her life, and becomes absolutely stupid and psycho when it comes to being with him!"

"She did it with Adrien, and now she's doing it with Henri! At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if she worked out his schedule and kept track of it, or even if she made, like, little voodoo dolls of him! That's exactly the kinda creepy stalker stuff she does, like she's doing now, blindly following Henri around like some drooling lovesick puppy!"

Lila put on a sad face. "That sounds awful, Alya. I wish I could help. But I don't think Marinette would listen to me. Things are still tense between us."

Alya panted, the anger from earlier fading, having relieved some of the tension through her outburst. "Whatever...I'm going home. I need to unwind...and get my clothes in the laundry."

Lila's eyes followed her until she was out of the doorway, before darting to the upper corner of the room, resting on the security camera positioned there. A wicked grin split her face in half.


	14. Words Hurt

The school day began just like any other. The students arrived, went through lessons, and studied, studied, studied. Marinette sat in the back row with Henri, while Adrien had to sit with Lila in the front. Every so often, he'd steal sad glances over his shoulder at Mari, but she didn't look at him.

For weeks, Adrien was agonizing over how to expose Henri, how to get Marinette to see his true colors. He couldn't confront him in front of her, though. Marinette would just think she was attacking him. Until he found a way to reveal him on the sly, he needed to take the high road.

His thoughts wandered to the brunette sitting next to him with goo-goo eyes. Plagg's first theory repeated in his head. If he was right, and Lila was somehow responsible for Marinette's blind faith in Henri, he would need to do something about the liar first before he did anything else. But how could he do that when he wasn't even sure what Lila had done to set things in motion?

For the final class of the day, Madame Bustier decided to let the class have a free period. Or, as most knew it as, goof-off-with-friends-and-do-whatever-you-wanted period. There were sounds of approval from her class. They were free to spend it in any part of the school they wanted.

As the students gathered their things, Lila hurried out swiftly with her things. She had to be fast. She whipped out her phone and opened her text messages. Poised and ready to fire, she waited until everyone passed her by, greeting them with friendly smiles.

"Hi, Lila! Whatcha doin'?"

"Just checkin' my messages." And she actually wasn't lying this time.

"Where is it? I know I had it here somewhere?", wondered Marinette, digging through her purse.

Henri kept her pen hidden in his fist under their shared desk, brown eyes darting back and forth between his girlfriend and their retreating classmates. Once the last of them was out of sight, he swiftly texted Lila through the phone in his other hand, also hidden under his desk.

Lila's phone pinged. Now., the message read. Not wasting a second, Lila's fingers swiped at the screen at lightning speed.

While she was distracted, Henri tossed her pen to her feet, drawing her eye to it, without seeing his slight of hand. "Oh! There it is!"

She picked it up and went to put it in her purse. Just then—ping!—she got a text. Taking out her phone, she stared at the ten-digit sequence on her screen. "Huh...I don't recognize this number...it's a video message."

She opened her messages and tapped on the "Play" button.

Lila walked with the girls when she stopped suddenly. "Oh! I left a pencil in th3 classroom! Be right back!" She took off, entering the classroom. When she walked in, what she heard was music to her ears.

"Yeah, right! If anyone's a hypocrite, it's Marinette! She attacks you without reason or evidence, even though you've never done anything to her, then whines that we don't automatically take her side, and then she goes and blindly believes every lies that comes out of Henri's mouth and snaps at us for getting on his case about it, using us not believing her about you to defend him!"

Marinette was standing in th3 back of the room, staring at her phone screen with wide eyes. Lila's spiteful little heart was filled with wicked glee upon seeing the shellshocked look on her face, her mouth hanging open as she watched the video of Alya.

Henri stood next to her, looking over her shoulder, pretending to be just as shocked and hurt as she was. He glanced up, and his eyes met Lila's, sharing a glint of sinister delight in their joined gaze.

Smiling cruelly, Lila ascended the stairs towards Marinette, who could only focus on the video in her hands.

"Well, guess what, Marinette! This is exactly why we didn't believe you about Lila! Any guy she gets a crush on, she puts up on a pedestal and blatantly overlook any flaw he has! She goes nuts trying to get closer to him, and gets jealous when another girl even looks in his direction! She lets her crush consume her life, and becomes absolutely stupid and psycho when it comes to being with him!"

She couldn't take it anymore. Marinette paused the video and looked up to see Lila's shameless, sinister grin. The Italian girl shook her head. "What did I tell you, Marinette? True. Colors." She reached out and tapped the top of her phone on those last two words.

Marinette shook her head, bits of anger flashing across her face. "I can't believe this. She is so two-faced..."

"I can't believe she'd do that to you...", said Henri softly, putting on a sad, sympathetic face. "I'm so sorry, Maribelle."

"Lila?" The group came in. "Did you find it?"

Three pairs of eyes fell upon the group, on one member in particular. Lila looked sad and apologetic, while Marinette looked seething mad. The nasty smirk that was all too familiar with Henri was on his face, as Marinette's eyes were not on him, but on her so-called "best friend".

Lila shuffled her feet. "Alya...I don't know what to say."

The Creole girl stepped forward. "What do you mean?" She looked at Marinette. "What did you do to her?" The whole class was back in the room, their eyes zeroed on on their class rep, expecting her to make excuses on why she had hurt Lila this time.

Without a word, Marinette walked down the stairs to stand before Alya. Holding out her phone so that the screen faced the other girl, the blunette pressed "Play".

"At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if she worked out his schedule and kept track of it, or even if she made, like, little voodoo dolls of him! That's exactly the kinda creepy stalker stuff she does, like she's doing now, blindly following Henri around like some drooling lovesick puppy!"

Alya's face went from frustrated suspicion to shocked horror as she watched her image repeat the very words from yesterday in the arts room. The rest of the class stared at their deputy, eyes wide and jaws hanging open. Nino gaped at his girlfriend, while Adrien stared with him. Lila shook her head sadly, while Henri hid a tiny evil smirk.

Marinette paused the video again and glared at the girl she once thought she could trust. "How could you say all those things about me behind my back?", she said, in a tone that was soft, full of pain, almost hissing. "I thought we were friends!"

For once in her life, Alya, the girl with a nose for news and a gift for gab, was speechless. "Who...Who leaked this?" She looked back at Henri. "Was it you? It was you, wasn't it?! You leaked it to Marinette to discredit me because I wasn't willing to let you get away with your crud!"

Henri looked shocked and offended by such a thought. "Me? I was standing right next to Marinette when she got it! I wasn't even holding my phone!"

Alya looked around before her eyes fell on Chloé, standing in the back of the crowd. "Then you did this!", she snarled, pointing a finger at the mayor's daughter. "It's exactly the kinda nasty thing you'd do!"

Marinette shook her head. "Wow...you say all that messed-up stuff about me and my boyfriend, and you don't think, Huh, maybe I should say sorry? Take some responsibility? No...you accuse Henri and Chloé of leaking the video. Well, guess what, Alya?! You're the one saying the words!"

Alya struggled to find the right words to say. "Well, someone obviously did this to hurt me!"

"Still not hearing a sorry."

Alya's face grew sad. "Okay, so I said a few...not nice things. But I didn't mean them! I was just mad! And even so, you can't deny that I had a point! You do let your crush take over your life! That's why you can't see what a jerk Henri is!"

"So that's it?" Marinette's voice shook. "You're not going to apologize for smack-talking about me to Lila behind my back?"

Alya faltered. "No, I...I am sorry."

Tears pricked at the corners of Marinette's eyes. "Sorry you got caught, not sorry you said it."

Alya glanced over at Henri, who was hiding his wicked grin behind his hand, taking delight in her struggle to save her friendship with Marinette. She was grasping at straws, and everyone could see it.

"Marinette, they were just words! I said them in the heat of the moment! They didn't mean anything!"

"I have news for you, Alya. Words hurt." Marinette shook her head. "You know, you've been treating me badly, ignoring me, taking me for granted. I never said anything because I truly believed that deep down, you still cared about me, that you still thought of me as your friend."

She held up the phone. "But if this what you really think about me...if this who you really are...well, I'm done. I'm done believing in you. I'm done waiting for you to see me. I'm done with holding onto our so-called friendship. I'm sure you wouldn't want such a crazy, jealous hypocrite as a BFF."

She grabbed her backpack and shot Alya a dirty look as a tear rolled down her cheek. "This is goodbye, Alya. I don't need a best friend like you."

And with that, she pushed past the crowd of stunned onlookers and left the room. Henri hopped down the stairs with a spring in his step and gave Alya a nasty grin. His eyes were aglow with malicious triumph, as if to say, Suck it, I won!, before following his girlfriend out of the room.

Alya wandered to the seat where Chloé usually sat, her mind still processing what had just happened. The blonde did not dare reprimand her. As it all finally sank it, the Creole girl burst into tears, taking off her glasses to rub at her watery eyes.

The class stood there, staring at her, unsure how to approach. On one hand, they were sad for Alya, but none of them could argue that what she had said about Marinette had been kind of messed-up.

Lila walked over and patted her shoulder as she cried. Adrien wasn't sure if it was his imagination or not, but for just a mere second, he could've sworn that he saw a bit of glee flicker across her face before it was gone.


	15. Stripping Away Delusions

"I just don't know what to think, dude.", said Nino as he walked Adrien to fencing practice. "I mean, I know Alya really cares about Mari, and she didn't really mean what she said. She just gets lost in the heat of the moment. She's impulsive like that. But...that doesn't mean what she said wasn't mean. I mean, she pretty much called Marinette a lovesick looney-toon."

Adrien sighed. "I think the real problem is that Alya's also stubborn. She doesn't like to admit she was wrong, about anything. But what I'm really wondering is how Marinette got that video in the first place."

"Dude! Isn't it obvious?!", exclaimed Nino. "It was Henri! He's had it in for Alya—for all of us—ever since he stole her seat, because we want to expose him to Mari!"

"But Nino...how did he even know Alya was bashing Marinette to begin with?", said Adrien.

Nino's face went neutral.

"I mean you saw the video.", Adrien explained. "Her green-stained pants proved that it was after the paint can incident. Marinette left the room with Henri. I saw her leave the school with right after the incident. And no one was in the room but Alya and Lila. So how did Henri know what she was saying or where she was when she was saying it? None of us knew."

Nino's eyes went wide as it sank in. "Dude...you're right. No one could have known what Alya said. Well, except Lila."

Now it was Adrien's eyes that went wide. "Lila?"

"Yeah, she was in the room, too. She was the only other one there. But it couldn't have been her, dude. She and Alya are friends. And even if if they weren't, Lila would never do something like that to anyone. She's way too nice."

Adrien's brain started it wrack itself with doubts and suspicions. His mind flashed back to the bathroom stall after Henri's first threat to stay away from Marinette, Plagg's words about Lila possibly having something to do with Marinette's blind trust in the new guy echoing in his ear.

Adrien thought back to the flicker of glee on Lila's face. What if he hadn't imagined it? What if she had leaked the video to Marinette to get her to cut ties with Alya? If she had, then Plagg's theory about her not being so innocent made more sense.

"Are...Are you sure?"

Nino looked back at him, one brow raised. "About what?"

"Are you sure that Lila couldn't have leaked the video? I mean, like you said, she was the only other one in the room when it happened."

Nino groaned, to his surprise. "Oh man, not you, too! You're starting to sound like Marinette?"

Now Adrien was deeply invested. "What do you mean? How?!"

"Tell you later, dude. Right now, we're here."

Adrien hadn't noticed that they had arrived at the fencing grounds, to engrossed in the conspiracy theory that was Lila Rossi and Henri LeRoi. But right now, he would have to wait for more intel from Nino until practice ended.  
—————————  
"Engarde!"

Sabers clinked together and swished through the air, each opponent locked in battle, not showing any weakness. Nino sat on the benches, leaning forward, the intensity of the battle having him on the edge of his seat.

Just then, a thick, cold hand fell upon his shoulder, the touch hard and heartless. Tensing up, Nino's eyes wandered beside him to see no other but Henri LeRoi himself, giving his signature cruel smirk.

"Hello, Lahiffe."

"You! Dude, what are you doing here?"

"None of your beeswax, Scarecrow." Henri loves calling Nino that name because of his thin, scrawny frame and spindly arms and legs.

The taller, more buff boy snatched the hat off Nino's head and tossed it behind him. When Nino rose up to get it, Henri grabbed him, put him in a headlock, and starting rubbing his fist into the top of his head hard. "Noogie, noogie, noogie!"

"Hey!"

Both boys looked up to see two fencers stomp over, one in a white uniform, the other in a red one. The white one lifted their mask away to unveil the irritated face of Adrien Agreste. "What are you doing here, LeRoi?!"

The red fencer looked at Adrien, then back at Henri before lifting her mask to reveal herself. Kagami had her usual poker face, but with shades of determination and a touch of anger. She always wore it while fencing. Her peers called it her "fence face".

"So...", she said in a monotone. "You are Henri LeRoi. I have heard many things about you."

He gave her a charming smile. "Have you?"

Her brown eyes narrowed. "I never said they were good things." Her tone was deadly, as if she was one step away from murdering the boy before her. And in her mind, she felt she was.

Adrien had been telling her all sorts of stories about Henri and his menancing, backstabbing ways. It made Kagami seethe with rage, and not just because he was threatening Adrien.

Marinette was the only other friend that Kagami had beside Adrien Agreste. Even though she saw the girl as a rival for his heart, she admired her courage and compassion. The thought that this new boy was taking advantage of Marinette, manipulating her just so he could trap her into a toxic relationship, it was enough to make Kagami boil. Her friend deserved better than this lying, two-faced snake.

Henri smirked as he let Nino go, the smaller boy diving to the ground to collect his hat. "I came here to look into joining the team."

"Since when are you into fencing?", asked Nino in a bitter tone, dusting off his cap.

"You don't know what I'm into."

Adrien looked at him suspiciously. "I know you're into messing with me. Is that why you really wanna join? So you can have more opportunity to harass me?"

Kagami glared at the other boy. "Don't you dare lay a finger on my fencing partner!", she bit out.

Henri chuckled in a way that made Kagami want to punch him in his stupid face. "Marinette was totally on board with the idea.", he told Adrien. "She thinks it will give you the push you and I need to become friends."

"I'd rather be friends with Hawkmoth.", sneered Adrien.

"You gonna tell Marinette that? She'd be so disappointed that you're not giving me a chance."

The point of Adrien's saber appeared an inch from the tip of Henri's nose. Adrien was posed like a cobra ready to strike. "Don't you dare bring Marinette into this!", he growled. "I don't know how you weaseled your way into her heart, seeing as you have as much kindness as a rattlesnake, but I do know that you can't keep up your little innocent act forever. Sooner or later, Marinette will see who you truly are."

"Is that so? Like she saw who Alya truly is? In that little video?" Henri shook his head. "Harsh."

Kagami looked at Adrien. "What is he talking about?"

Nino sighed. "Henri tripped Alix in art class a couple days ago and make her spill paint accidentally on Alya. After Marinette took Henri's side—again—and everyone left, Alya started ranting to Lila in the room alone. She said some pretty ugly things, but she was pretty upset at Marinette for constantly believing Henri over her. I guess she just...snapped."

Adrien chimed in. "We know this because someone leaked a video of Alya ranting in the arts room and sent it to Marinette. She showed it to the class, confronted Alya, and ended their friendship right then and there."

Nino turned back to Henri with a scorching glare. "I dunno how you got that video, dude, or even how you knew about Alya's rant..."

Henri laughed in his face. "Wait...you think I sent Maribelle the video?"

"Who else could it be?"

Henri rolled his eyes. "You really love jumping to conclusions without proof, don'tcha? You and Alya really are perfect for each other, then." He smirked. "But I didn't send her the video. For your information, I was right next to Marinette when she got the video. Ask her. She'll confirm that I wasn't even holding my phone when she got it."

Nino's face fell.

Kagami examined him. "He's telling the truth."

"What?!"

"He is confident. He feels no fear of you asking Marinette for her side of the story. Marinette is not a liar. She will always tell the truth. If he's sure enough to send you to her to confirm his tale, it must be true."

Adrien glared steadily at Henri. "You're still a piece of slime, Henri. I don't care if you threatened me. I won't let you manipulate Marinette. I will find a way to expose you to her. You're a liar and a bully, and Marinette hates liars and bullies. You don't deserve her, Henri."

It was then Henri cocked a brow at him and asked in a condescending tone, "Oh? And who does? You?"

Adrien faltered under his inquisitive words. "What are you talking about?"

Henri chuckled low and darkly, like a Disney villain. "You really amuse me, Agreste, the way you run around in circles."

"Huh?"

"Wake up, Agreste. You have the hots for my Maribelle."

Adrien's face turned red, although from anger or from embarrassment, no one could tell. "What?! That's a lie!"

"Is it?"

Adrien looked away. "Yeah, she's just a friend."

"Look at me when you say that."

Adrien looked back at him, but remained silent. Henri smirked.

"Say, when was the last time you said that while looking someone in the eye?"

Still no reply. Nino and Kagami were dumbfounded as they remembered how although he said it often, Adrien never really looked anyone in the eye when he claimed Marinette was "just a friend".

Adrien looked deep in Henri's brown eyes. "Marinette is just a...just a..."

Adrien was flabbergasted as he soon discovered that he could not say the words while looking Henri directly in the eye. And it made him boil when he saw the amused look from the taller boy in the face of his failure.

"Ha! See? You can't say it while looking at me! And you call me a liar! Well, maybe I am, but you know what? At least I'm honest with myself. At least I know what I want. You can't even admit the truth to yourself."

He strutted off. "I'm out. I've already had my fun for today." And he walked away.

Adrien stood there, his mind slow as he drank in his lack of success in proving Henri wrong. Kagami and Nino stared at him and waited for him to come back to life.

"Why couldn't I say it?", he whispered. "What is wrong with me?"

"It was just one time, Adrien."

"But it's not! Ever since Marinette started dating that jerk, my feelings have been on this sorta rollercoaster ride! One moment, I'm happy around her, and the next, I'm seething at Henri just for saying hi! I can barely sleep, I've almost completely lost my appetite, I can't go an hour without thinking about Marinette! What is going on with me?"

Nino sighed. "Dude...as much as I hate to agree with Henri...I think he's right. I think you like Marinette. You know, as more than a friend."

Adrien shook his head. "I can't be. And even if I was...I couldn't be with her. There's...there's this other girl I'm in love with."

Kagami was surprised. She had known that Adrien had feelings for another girl, but she had assumed it was Marinette. "Who is it?"

"Can't say. It's complicated between us."

"Does she return your affections?"

"Well...no. She actually told me she likes another boy. But I can't give up on her. I'm gonna wait for her. She's the only one for me."

Kagami's face went sour, like she had just finished sucking on a lemon. "Wait a minute...so your plan is to just sit around and wait for this girl who has already informed you she is not interested in you romantically to somehow suddenly change her mind?"

Adrien blinked at her. "Yes?"

Nino looked uncomfortable. "Dude...don't take this the wrong way, but...that's kinda lame. You're just gonna stay single for the rest of your life?"

"No! Just until she falls in love with me. Which she will, someday. I just know it. I just have to be patient. She'll change her mind someday."

"What if she doesn't, dude? What if she never sees you in the light? Are you just gonna turn down every other girl who shows interest in you?"

"I can't be with another girl! That would be unfaithful."

Nino looked at him. "It's not unfaithful if you're not dating. Which you're not, because she turned you down, dude!"

Adrien faltered. "I know, but...it feels like I'm being unfaithful. One time, after she rejected me, I tried to move on, but...it just didn't feel right. It felt forced. I just can't erase my feelings."

He deflated a tiny bit. "That's...That's kinda why I can't be with Marinette. Even if I did have a crush on her, I can't be with her if my heart is with someone else, too. Marinette deserves better than that. She shouldn't have to settle for being anyone's second choice, let alone mine."

Kagami and Nino exchanged a glance.

"And even if I did somehow move on from the first girl and fall for Marinette, it still wouldn't make much difference from my current position. She's dating Henri now. Even if I had a chance with her somewhere in the past, it's long gone now."

Adrien lowered his sword. "And for my final point...how do I even know that I see Marinette in that romantic light? I mean, sure, I care about her a lot, but date her? I...I don't know if I see her that way."

"Well, how do you see her?", asked Kagami.

Adrien blinked. "Hm?"

"Describe Marinette to me. In your own words."

"Why? You know what she's like."

"But I want to know what she's like in your eyes.", said his fencing partner. "I want to know what you think about when you think about Marinette." She sat on the bench, staring at him with a steely, untreatable gaze. "Go on."

Adrien stared at her, but decided to follow her advice. "Well...she's kind. And caring. And selfless. She's always doing favors and nice things for the people she cares about, sometimes even at the expense of her own needs and wants. She's always ready to lend a hand, and she's not afraid to stand up for herself, her friends, or what she believes in."

"Whatever she does in life, she always gives a hundred percent, whether it's her fashion dreams or being the class rep. She's never mean to anyone, not even Chloé, the girl who bullied her for years. But if Chloé does cross the line, Marinette will set her straight. She's tough but fair."

"Marinette is also a born leader. Like how she made that speech about coming together that won her the class election. Remember that, Nino? She was so strong, so determined. I mean, I don't call her our Everyday Ladybug for nothing. Heck, there used to be a time when I thought Marinette could actually be Ladybug herself!"

"And that's why it cheeses me off to see her with Henri! She deserves better than him. She deserves to be with someone who gets her, who understands her. Someone who loves her for all her little quirks and the things she does and not in spite of them, like the cute way she sticks her tongue out when she draws, or how she flaps her arms around when she's nervous, or the adorable way she gets flustered and messes up her words. Someone who can support her and be her hero when she needs it, instead of isolating her and trying to pass it off as helping. Someone who won't see her as some shiny object to be won, but as her own person. Her own amazing, incredible, beautiful per..."

Adrien was on the final word of his speech when he trailed off, his green eyes growing wide with realization. Nino looked at him in anticipation, while Kagami had a hint of a smile on her face.

"Oh my God.", Adrien mumbled. "I'm in love with Marinette."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a Patreon now! To see the next chapter early, go to my tumblr page BroadwayCutie16 & click the link! I do not own MLB, but Henri LeRoi is my own creation.


	16. The Core of the Truth

"I'm in love with Marinette."

"You already said that, dude. Several times."

"Twenty-seven, to be exact."

"Thanks for the calculations, Kagami."

"I'm in love with Marinette."

"And that's twenty-eight."

Adrien sat on the bench, sandwiched between Nino and Kagami. He stared into space, still reeling from this new realization.

"Well, now that you know, what are you gonna do now?"

He deflated at Nino's question. "Nothing."

"What?!"

"Like I said before, Nino. It doesn't matter what I feel. Marinette's with Henri now. I missed my chance."

Now Nino slumped over. "Oh. Right."

Kagami frowned. "So you're just going to sit back and let her be with that jerk? Aren't you going to do something to expose him?"

"How can we do that?!", cried Nino. "He's too smart. He covers his tracks. He's a master of manipulation! And we can't try to warn Marinette how he really is. That's what Alya did, and we know how that ended for her!"

They did know. A video of her during a bad moment leaked to Marinette, which lead to the breaking of their friendship on the blunette's half.

"Every time someone tries to call him out to Marinette, he always twists things around to make himself look like the victim. It's infuriating! It's not like Marinette to believe a guy she barely knows over her best friends! And with that video...how did he even know about it!"

Adrien grimaced. "Nino...I don't think Henri did it. I think Lila did."

Nino stared at him. "What?! Dude, how can you say that?!"

Kagami frowned. "Who's Lila?"

"This girl in our class that transferred a while back.", explained Nino. "She's done all this awesome stuff, traveled the world, hung out with Prince Ali, saved Jagged Stone's cat—she promised to hook me up with Steven Spielberg!"

Nino rolled his eyes. "Problem is, Marinette's pretty jealous of her. She keeps giving Lila a tough time, insisting that she's lying, that she's faking her injuries and stories. Lila sometime tells us about some nasty words Mari throws at her on bad days."

"It's totally whack, dude! All Lila wants to be friends, but Marinette's acting so immature, all out of petty jealousy! And Lila's never done anything to her! Unbelievable!"

He then noticed suddenly how Adrien's face turned white as a sheet. "Dude?"

"Marinette would never be nasty to someone for no reason.", said Adrien. "And she would never, ever bully anyone, for any reason whatsoever. If she's treating someone coldly, there has to be a reason."

"Yeah, and the reason is that she's jealous. You know, I hate to admit it, but Alya did make some valid points in her leaked rant. Marinette is mad at us for not blindly believing her over Lila, and yet she's doing the same thing to us with Henri! I mean, it was totally different! It was your word against Lila's, dudette, but it's Henri's word against all of ours!"

Adrien could scarcely breathe. How Nino described the events...it couldn't be true. Marinette would never ice out someone who just wanted to be nice. She would never spread lies about people. And she would never, ever in a million years intentionally be cruel anyone. She wasn't even mean to Chloé, and Lord knows it would have been the least the mayor's daughter deserved for all the hell she put Marinette through.

And yet, here Nino was, implying that Marinette was acting like a lying, two-faced, jealous bully to poor, innocent Lila. But if Marinette was acting cold to Lila, Adrien knew there has to be a good reason. No matter what Nino or anyone else thought, there had to be a better explanation.

But how could he know everything? He couldn't ask Nino. From what he just said, his point of view could not help him get answers. And Marinette clearly didn't trust Adrien enough to tell him everything, else she would have done so already.

Adrien didn't even respond to Nino. He just got up, mumbled an excuse, and headed to the locker room. Once he was by himself, he opened his locker, seeing Plagg chowing down on the cheese he had left for him in his locker. The kwami looked up him with blazing green eyes. "Practice done already?"

Adrien kept his voice low. "Plagg, I think your theory about Lila was right. I think she does have a bigger hand in Henri's control over Marinette! I just found out that she's's been acting cold to Lila lately. Lila keeps telling them that Mari's bullying her!"

"Pigtails? A bully? In what universe?"

"Exactly! But everyone believes her! Nino says she's icing Lila out because she's jealous, but I know better! Marinette would never stoop so low! There has to be more to this than meets the eye!"

Adrien sighed. "But how do I find out the truth? Nino and the whole class has this warped view of the situation. I can't ask any of them and get real answers."

"Why don't you ask Pigtails herself?"

"I don't think she trusts me enough to tell me the whole story, Plagg. If she did, why didn't she tell me sooner?"

Suddenly, Plagg's eyes lit up with inspiration. "Hold on...maybe she doesn't trust Adrien enough...but she might trust someone else." A cheeky grin spread across his face. "A certain alley cat?"

Adrien lit up almost instantly. "Plagg! You're a genius! She doesn't trust me as Adrien that much, but she does trust me when I visit her as Chat Noir!"

It was true. Marinette was usually so awkward and closed off around Adrien, but when Chat Noir visited her for a weekly night chat, she opened up like a flower in spring. She would tell the hero what was going on.

It was settled. Chat Nour would visit Marinette that night. And he would get answers.


	17. Nighttime Chats

When Adrien hopped on the balcony as Chat Noir, he saw Marinette was not there. Pinning his baton to the end, he held the tip and hung off it to peer into her window to see if she was alone. She was.

She was facing a wall, her back facing him, so he couldn't exactly see what she was doing. He did a somersault backwards, sticking the landing back on the roof, and knocked on the hatch.

Seconds later, she opened it. Her face was softly smiling in a way that made his heart sing. God, why hadn't he noticed sooner how that smile made him feel?

"Chat! It's good to see you."

"Hey there, Princess. Mind if I drop in?"

She shook her head. "Not at all. You're always welcome in here."  
—————————  
Marinette was glad to see Chat Noir. It had been weeks since his last visit, which was unusual for him. Usually, he came to her balcony for baked goods and heart-to-heart talks at least once a week.

But then again, Chat was going through something in his personal life.

Sure, he hadn't said anything to her, as Ladybug or Marinette, but she had seen something change in him. He had stopped flirting and joking during missions and patrols, and he hadn't made a single pun in weeks. That might have been a good thing, having him focus more on the task at hand.

Except that it wasn't the lack of playful banter that bothered her. He seemed to have lost that fire in him, that mischievous spark that made him, him. He was sadder, less confident, his leaps and stunts had less energy, and he rarely ever smiled anymore, and even when he did, it felt strained. He was basically a shell of his former self.

Once upon a time, Ladybug had been annoyed by his constant comedic attempts and endless romantic pursuit of her. Now, she would give anything to have him flirt with her again, to hear one of his cheesy puns, to see the light in his eyes again.

Marinette moved to let him through into her room. Closing the hatch, she walked over. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Sorry about that, Princess. I've been going through a lot lately."

He didn't notice Marinette's sad look. "You must have been. Your visits usually run like clockwork. Is...Is everything okay? In your civilian life?"

He looked a little nervous at that question, like a criminal who had caught in the act. "Everything's fine, Princess. Nothin' I can't handle."

"Are you sure you don't wanna talk about it?"

"If I wanted to talk about my problems, I'd ask my kwami. I came here because I wanted to talk about you. I missed you."

Marinette wanted more, but decided it was better not to pry. "Okay..."  
———————-  
Part of Chat Noir wanted to vent everything to Marinette. He wanted to tell her the whole story, without going into too much detail, lest she connect the dots figure out his identity. But that would be wasting valuable time. He had come here with a mission—to get Marinette's side of the story.

"So! Did I catch you in the middle of something?"

She walked past him and picked up a cardboard box. "Nah, I was just getting rid of a few things." She held it out to him. "You can help if you want. Just hold this by me while I clear out my drawers."

Adrien took the box from her and nodded. Then he looked inside it and flinched at what he saw. It was full of photographs from different slots in time, the only thing linking them together was Alya's face in every one of them. Among her photos were random objects and trinkets, which Chat bet were gifts that Marinette had received from her over the years.

"Can I ask why you're getting rid of these?", he said as he walked over to Marinette, who was rummaging through her drawers, no doubt looking for any remaining gifts and items that Alya had given her, to discard them in the box with the rest of them.

"It's a long story, Chat.", she sighed, finding a beaded friendship bracelet and tossing it carelessly into the box like it was no more than a snotty tissue.

"Take all the time you need, Princess.", he assured her. "I'm all pointed ears."

She stopped and giggled, her laughter like the faint jingling of silver bells. Then her smile faded. She kept silent for a moment, then finally spoke.

"I lost my best friend today."

Chat's ears drooped. "Really?"

"Her name is Alya Césaire. You remember her, right? The Ladyblogger?"

Chat nodded. "I remember her. What happened between you two?"

"Well, today I got a video message from an anonymous person. It was her, ranting about me, slam-talking about me behind my back. The gist of it was that she thinks I'm a creepy lovesick hypocrite who acts out of jealousy. Well, I couldn't be friends with someone who thinks of me that way."

Chat bit his lip. "That sounds bad. But...are you sure that's how she really sees you? I've seen her around you while on missions. How she defends you, always worries about your safety when there's an akuma around. I don't think she'd feel that way if she didn't care. I'm sure they just caught her at a bad moment. Did you do anything to upset her beforehand?"

Marinette looked uncertain. "Well...there is the matter of me believing my boyfriend over her."

"Boyfriend, huh? Might I have the name of the noble knight who's swept Princess off her feet?" Chat tried to sound natural when he called Henri "the noble knight". LeRoi was anything but noble.

"His name is Henri LeRoi. And he's the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful boy I've ever met!", Mari gushed, a dreamy smile on her face. "He's a perfect gentleman, and he treats me like a queen!"

Chat had to force himself to smile. "Sounds great, Princess. But...back to Alya...you said you believed your BF over your BFF. Why? I mean, I always thought the girl code was 'sisters before misters'."

"Usually that is the case. But for some reason, Alya doesn't like Henri. Neither does the rest of the class. They keep giving him either a hard time or a cold shoulder, and then they get mad at me when I stick up for him, accusing me of defending a bully."

She shook her head and went on, her voice now laced with such a poison that Adrien never thought her capable of using. "It's ridiculous! Henri has never done anything to them! They know how important he is to me, and they won't even give him a chance to prove himself. Even Alya, my so-called best friend, starting spreading lies about him! That, combined with hearing how she really sees me, makes me wonder how I could have misjudged her so badly! And she won't even admit that she's wrong! I thought sh3 was my friend!"

Chat Noir placed the box aside, looking at Marinette softly. "She is your friend, Mari. Look, I'm not saying it was okay for her to say all those things, but she was mad. You took Henri's word over hers. Of course she's gonna get upset. And I think we both know how impulsive Alya can be. I'm sure she didn't really mean what she said."

Marinette glared at him, making him shrink back a tad. "Why are you defending her?"

Chat sighed heavily. "Because I made the same mistake for the same reasons."  
————————  
Marinette's anger gave way to curiosity and concern at Chat's remark. "What are you talking about? What did you do?"

Chat sat on her bed, looking drained. "I probably shouldn't be telling you this...but I have been kinda snarky to Ladybug at times when she rejected me. First during Glaciator, then during Frozer. I acted out of hurt and said things I didn't mean. Looking back, I'm ashamed of how I acted. I've thought about apologizing to Ladybug for it, but I'm too scared to. I'm afraid to even bring it up. I'm lucky she didn't hold it against me."

Hearing that made Marinette happy. She had quickly forgiven Chat for his less-than-gracious reactions to her rejections. She knew that it wasn't really who he was deep down. He had already proven his character to her over and over again by risking his life for her, and never breaking her trust to find out her secret identity himself, even though he had had plenty of opportunities to, like in the closet after Lady WiFi, or during Dark Owl's trap.

Nevertheless, it was good to hear him confess his guilt anyway, and explain that he did want to say sorry, he was just afraid to stir up bad memories. "You should bring it up to her. Even if it hits a nerve, she'd be glad to hear your apology."

Chat smiled, the frowned and continued. "But...the reason I'm trying to get you to see Alya's perspective...is because I was in her position once."

Marinette stared at him blankly as he went on.

"It goes without saying that I trust Ladybug. But I don't think anyone understands just how much I trust her. But she does. I've thrown myself in front of akumas for her. I've taken multiple hits for her so she could complete the mission. I've literally died for her!"

He stared at her with glassy eyes. "No one knows this...but one time, I was falling off a building in my civilian form. The only way to save myself was to transform, but I knew I couldn't, because I was in public and doing so would have blown my cover. Luckily, I knew Ladybug would save me, and she did."

Marinette was horrified. "Chat, you should have transformed! There was no guarantee Ladybug would save you! I'm sure she would have understood!"

"But that's just it, Marinette.", he said softly. "Even though I knew I had a good reason, even though I knew she'd forgive me for blowing my cover, even though there was no guarantee, I didn't transform, because I trusted Ladybug to catch me when I fell."

His eyes were glassy. "Don't you see? My trust for Ladybug goes so far and so deep I would risk falling to my death because I know she'll save everyone in the end, including me."

Marinette's eyes filled with tears. She had known Chat trusted her a lot, but she had had no idea just how deep his trust went before now. He could have died, but he still believed in her so much that he was willing to put his own life in the line, trusting to save him, to keep his identity safe. She wondered which falling civilian he had been. She had saved so many people from falling to death that the options were endless.

"When Rena Rogue first came along, I was happy to get a new friend. But I was kinda upset that Ladybug knew her secret identity and not me. And when I asked, she just told me it was a secret. And that...that really hurt. She always promised me that I mattered to her, that we were equals. But when she just locked me out of the loop like that, it felt like she had lied to me. I mean, if I was so important, why didn't she trust me enough to tell me the important stuff? If we were equals, how come she was allowed to know RR's secret identity and I wasn't?"

Marinette shrank back, ashamed. She admitted, she still harbored guilt for that, because he had a valid point. She had always assured him that he was irreplaceable, that she was no higher than he was, but now that there was an important secret, she hadn't been able to let him in. "I can see why you're upset...it felt like she didn't trust you."

Chat Noir sighed again. "Well, it turns out she did trust me. She was just keeping me out of the loop because someone asked her to. Can't tell you who, that's hero confidential. But I didn't know that at the time. I didn't know she was keeping secrets on behalf of someone else. I didn't even know someone else was involved. Just her. As far as I knew, she was choosing not to tell me of her own accord, because she didn't trust me enough."

He hung his head low. "It really hurt. It felt like our whole partnership was based on a lie. She always told me that we were a team, but now it looked like she couldn't trust me when it came to the important stuff. I'd shown her over and over again that I trusted her with my life, but now it looked like she didn't even trust me half as much."

The tears were running down her face now. Shame gripped coldly at her heart. She had never realized the full extent of how Chat had been hurt, being left in the dark, thinking that it was her own choice not to trust him, despite the fact that his own trust in her was limitless. She remembered how it had hurt when her friends had shown to not trust her enough to listen to her about Lila, even though she would have done the same to them, and her heart broke at the thought that she had put Chat through the same thing.

He looked at her. "Anyway...I admit, I reacted badly. During the Syren fiasco, I almost even gave up being Chat Noir, because I was tired of being in a partnership where I wasn't trusted, where I felt like the expendable one. Luckily, it all worked out, but...that doesn't mean I don't regret it."

His eyes were soft now. "The point is, Marinette, everyone has their bad moments. Lots of people act out out of hurt and anger, especially teenagers like me and Alya. They do not nice things because they're upset. That doesn't mean they don't feel any remorse afterwards."

Marinette shook her head. "Chat...you had every right to be upset at Ladybug. Sure, it wasn't her who didn't trust you, but from your eyes, that's what it looked like. You trust her blindly, to the point where you'd literally die for her. Of course you'd be mad that that doesn't go both ways."

"It's okay, Princess. I'm over it now."

"But it must have been horrible. I bet if you were one in the loop, you wouldn't have kept her in the dark like that. You would have trusted her with your secrets. You're friends, and you've proved yourself, your character to her over and over again, showing that you trusted her completely. But when the time came for her to trust you, it looked like she didn't even take you with a grain of salt! What kind of friendship is that, where someone doesn't trust you, even though you've stood by them, promised to do the same for them, only to have them turn away from you! It's awful! And I should know!"  
—————————-  
Chat stared at her. He had come here to get answers. And it looked like he had just struck at gold there. "How would you know what that's like, Princess?"

Marinette wiped her tears on her sleeve. "I guess I should start from the beginning. There's this girl, she came back to our class a while ago, before Henri transferred. Her name is Lila Rossi. I'm sure you heard of her. There's a video of her on the Ladyblog, bragging about being Ladybug's best friend."

Chat nodded. So Lila did have something to do with Marinette's behavior. He needed more details. "Yeah, I heard of her. What does she have to do with anything?"

Marinette sat on her bed. "Well, considering she's boasting about being BFFs with you and Ladybug, I think you already know she's a big fat liar. I mean, it's so obvious! Did you know that she once claimed that she saw a napkin pierce out an eye?"

Chat looked at her funny. "A napkin? Seriously? That's the dumbest thing ?I've ever heard! What kinda moron would believe that baloney?!"

Then, he saw that Marinette had deflated.

"My class, apparently.", she said sadly. "She's got all of them twisted around her finger. She could say the sun is purple, and they'd believe her entirely! I'm the only one who can see through her lies and is willing to call her out on them. And that's why she hates me."

Chat blinked at her. "What makes you think she hates you?"

"Well, she threatened me in the bathroom, so..."

Adrien went into shock. "She what?"

Marinette looked at him. "The day she came back, I tried to call her out on her lies because she was faking injuries and making false promises to hook people up with celebrity connections. She claims to know rockstars and princes and movie directors and all sorts of stars and idols. She always tells people that she'll introduce them to someone famous or recommend them for something awesome so that they'll fawn over her."

"She also pretends to have injuries from doing great things so that people will give her what they want. At lunch, she pretended her ankle was hurt so that her classmates would bring lunch to her. And she lied about having tinnitus so she could sit next to a boy she liked. And even now, she still fakes injuries and makes up excuses so that people will carry her stuff or take notes for her in class. She even got Max to do her homework for her by telling him she was busy with some made-up charity!"

Adrien's heart jolted. At first, he though Lila had been lying to get attention from her peers, so they would warm up to her, because she was the new kid and hence, kinda of on the outside. He knew what that felt like, so he sympathized with her and stayed silent.

But from he was hearing, it seemed less like Lila just wanted to be accepted by her classmates and more like she wanted to use them. She was faking injuries and making promises of things that would never be to get them to do her favors and worship her like a goddess.

He gulped recalling what he had said to Marinette after the Chameleon Crisis. Her lies aren't hurting anyone, he had told her. If he had had the information back then that he did now, he would have never said those things.

"I was just looking out for my friends!", cried Marinette, bringing him out of his thoughts. "I didn't want to see them manipulated! I didn't want to let Lila get away with treating them like her minions! But when I tried to tell them that she was lying, they..." She choked on a sob. "They didn't believe me. They accused me of being jealous, of bullying her out of spite."

Adrien's body turned to lead. He now knew what she had meant earlier about being hurt over unreturned trust. Marinette had done so much for her friends, stood up for them, believed in them. But when it was their turn to return the favor, when she had needed support, they had bailed on her, writing her word off as petty jealousy.

"After that, Lila cornered me in the bathroom and told me that if I didn't back off trying to free my friends from her influence, she'd turn them all against me. And over the months...it was looking like she was making good on her promise."

Chat's blazing green eyes were wide as he stared at her, her story bringing flashes of Henri's threat to him on the day he'd shown his true colors to the class. Oh God, was this the universe sending some sort of karma?

"Isn't there anyone else who saw through her? There had to be someone who believed you!"

She looked up for a moment. "Well..there was one person. You know Adrien Agreste?" She stopped, then rolled her eyes. "Wait, what am I saying? Of course you know him! Everyone knows him! Well...he's in the same class, and he's really nice, but...if I'm being completely honest...he's kind of a doormat."

Chat blinked twice. "What do you mean?"

"He asked me not to tell anyone that Lila was lying. He told me she wasn't hurting anyone."

"Did you tell him she threatened you?"

"No..."

"Why not? I'm sure he would have done something if he knew the whole story."

Marinette sighed. "You're more certain than I am."

Chat flinched at her words. "You don't think he'd stand up for you?"

Marinette shook her head. "I mean, it's not that he isn't a nice guy. He is! In fact...that's kinda the problem. He's too nice. That's why I didn't tell him. I didn't trust him enough to do anything. I know he's lonely and he tries really hard but..." She trailed off.

Chat swallowed the lump in his throat. "But?"

Marinette looked at her bare feet. "But...he's not very reliable as a friend."

Her words were like a punch to the gut.

She turned back to her drawers and went on rummaging through them as she talked. "It's not that he flakes on our outings on his own will, that's his dad's doing. I just can't depend on him to stand up for me or anyone else when we're being bullied."

She picked up a paper heart and crushed it in her fist, her posture and face clearly trying to suppress frustration. "In fact, Adrien is more likely to side with the bully."

"What?!" Her remark felt like a slap to the face. "I-I'm sure that's not true!"

She turned back at him, eyes hard. "Trust me, it is.", she said dryly. "You know Chloé Bourgeois, the mayor's daughter?"

Chat nodded, a sense of dread forming at the bottom of his stomach.

"She and Adrien are best friends. They grew up together. Normally, that would be super sweet, but with those two, it's toxic. Chloé is the class bully. She torments the whole class mercilessly. She's always saying mean things about everyone and trying to get in them trouble. And not only does Adrien just sit by and let her do this, he always tries to calm them down by saying that Chloe's not that bad and that we should be the bigger person. But if we try to lash back at her or stand up for ourselves, he gets upset at us for attacking her."

"Even if she makes someone cry, he just brushes her behavior off as if it didn't hurt. Well, maybe he doesn't understand how much it hurts because he's never been bullied before. He's never had anyone insult him or push him around, making him feel bad about himself. He sticks up for Chloé when she's attacked, but he won't do the same for us, even though we're just seeking retribution for our pain."

"Maybe he just wants to give her the motivation to change. Do you really think she'll want to become better if she thinks everyone is already against her?"

"Do you think she'll know how to become better of she's never punished or told when she's wrong?", asked Marinette. "How is she supposed to learn from her mistakes if she never faces the consequences?"

Adrien's heart sank. He had never thought about it that way.

Marinette fiddled with her fingernails. "Honestly...sometimes I wonder if Chloé reven can change. Sure, she shows a glimpse of niceness every now and then, but it only lasts like a day! After that, she snaps back to her old rotten self! Even when she's Queen Bee! She doesn't do it because she wants to help others! She only does it for the fame and glory! Just like when she derailed that train so she could 'save' it! You know my parents and I were on that train?"

"What?!" He knew now.

"We were on that train when Chloé sabotaged it.", Marinette explained, staring at her knees. "If Ladybug had gotten there in time, we could have been seriously hurt or even killed, like so many others on it. But did she care about that? No! She only cared about getting praise as a hero, and when my friends and I didn't give it to her, she took it out on us! She treats us like dirt for years, then she expects us to worship her for fixing a situation she caused? And when we didn't dance to her tune, she threw a tantrum for a two-year-old!"

"And yet, when we were doing happy dances over Chloé moving away to America, what did Adrien do? He shamed us. He shamed me. He said it was awful of us for celebrating Chloé being gone. He actually had the nerve to make me feel guilty for being happy that my long-time bully was gone."

"Well...wasn't it a little mean that you were all partying over the fact that someone you knew was leaving because she didn't feel wanted?" Chat asked this with uncertainty in his voice.

Marinette huffed. "Okay, sure, maybe we were a little over-the-top with our celebration, but I think we had a right! For years—years, Chat!—Chloé walked all over us, humiliated us, made us feel bad about ourselves, used her dad's status to get away with ruining our lives! Adrien knew all this...and he still looked down at me and our friends for being glad that we were finally rid of her."

Adrien felt numb as he recalled those events. "I...I see your point."

"And that's why I never told him the whole truth about Lila.", Marinette sniffled, wiping at her nose. "When he asked me to take the high road, I kept my mouth shut because I thought it might not matter to him if she threatened me. I thought maybe he was right, that she would lie herself into a corner eventually. But even if she dies, what Adrien doesn't realize is that lies really do hurt. Not instantly, but over time, they do. They can ruin trust and weaken relationships. But I didn't tell him that because I thought there was no point. I thought he'd just tell me to give her another chance, that he'd be disappointed in me for even wanting to expose Lila in the first place."

Marinette toyed with one of her pigtails. "I mean, I get that Adrien wants to believe that there's good in everyone! In fact, it's one of my favorite things about him! But there are limits! Some people just don't want to change! And others are just plain bad! But Adrien acts like he lives in a fairytale world where all you have to do is show someone kindness and friendship and poof! They'll change their ways, no matter how rotten they are in the first place. That's not how it always works. Sometimes it does, but not always. In fact, they might become even worse!"

Chat sputtered at this. "Worse?! How so?!"

Marinette rubbed her forehead. "Well, if the bullies think that people will be nice to them no matter what, they'll start thinking they can do whatever they want, and not have to worry about losing their friendships or any kindness from others! So they start being as nasty as they can because they always have that one friend like Adrien to fall back on when everyone else turns on them!"

Adrien flinched. "I...I never thought of it like that."

Marinette fell onto her swivel chair. "Neither has Adrien, apparently. He's always making excuses for Chloé, defending and minimizing her behavior. I'm just worried that if he keeps it up, he'll be the one who loses friends."

This thought terrified Adrien. "What?! How so?!"

"It's bad enough he lets Chloé get away with her bratty behavior. But now he's letting all his friends be lied to, letting Lila get away with toying with their feelings and their dreams to manipulate them into doing her bidding. Even if Adrien right and Lila does get caught in her own lies, how do you think everyone will feel when they find out he knew the whole time and never even tried to warn them? They'll think that he was okay with them being deceived! That, added to his history with Chloé...everyone will believe he values the feelings of bullies and liars over the feelings of his friends! And who wants to be friends with someone who would stand by and let their friend be bullied or lied to?"

Marinette grew sad. "I know he's a good guy, and I get that Chloe's his friend and all, but he doesn't do something, anything, to show that he's on our side, eventually, everyone in class will decide they don't want to be friends with him anymore. I mean, who wants to be friends with someone who takes the bully's side over theirs?"

Adrien's heart broke. He had been so worried about losing Chloe's friendship if he didn't stand up for her. But he never thought that by doing so, he could lose all his other friendships with the class. Then he'd be back to where he had been before going to public school.

"But...what does that have to do with Lila? I mean, it makes sense he'd stand up for Chloé! She's his oldest friend! But what makes you think that he'd defend Lila's behavior? Besides, Lila sounds way worse than Chloe! Spreading lies, threatening people...I mean, Chloé might be nasty, too, but at least she has the guts to be nasty to people's face and not behind their backs."

Marinette sat on her bed, thinking it all over. "I dunno...I just felt like I couldn't tell whether or not he'd care. After all, he said she's not hurting anyone, even though he knew that Lila was making false promises to Nino and Alya, and tricking our teacher to get perks, even putting her job at risk! How is that not hurting anyone?"

Adrien gulped for the tenth time that night.

Marinette finally smiled a little. "I guess...that's why I was so happy when Henri came along. After all my friends shutting me out...and not knowing whether or not Adrien was really on my side...it was nice to have someone who automatically believed me, who actually stood by me and made sure I didn't feel alone."

Adrien felt like puking. Oh no...this was all his fault. If he had been more reliable, Marinette would have trusted him enough to tell him about Lila's threats and bullying. Then he could have helped her expose Lila, or if not, at the very least, made sure she didn't feel so alone all those months.

Marinette had been lonely, desperate for a companion, someone who would stand by her twenty-four-seven, and not just when it fit with his father's schedule. She had been easy prey for Henri, who had swooped in to fulfill that role. It must have been so effortless for him, with her sad state, to poison her already doubtful mind against her friends.

Chat looked at her sadly as he sat next to the bed. "Do you really believe all the things he said? About your friends? Do you really believe they're as mean as Henri says they are?"

Marinette looked at him, her eyes shining with tears. "Chat...I used to believe a lot of things. I used to believe Alya would always have my back. I used to believe that Nino would always be there for me. I used to believe that I actually mattered to my class."

"It's not that I don't want to believe that my friends are good people. It's just that in the past few months, they've proven to me otherwise. I understood kind of when they attacked me for attacking Lila, for thinking I was bullying her. But now they're attacking Henri. And why?"

She blinked back tears. "I just...I know what it's like to have everyone against you, to attack you for no reason. I just want to give Henri the love and support that I didn't get, to protect him the way no one protected me."

Chat Noir looked absolutely deflated at her words. "I'm sorry."

Her brow wrinkled. "What are you sorry for? It's not your fault."

But it is., thought Adrien. He had inadvertently created this mess. Now he had to fix it.


End file.
